Protecting the Guardian
by ye'oldsoomin
Summary: Three months have passed since Ichigo last set foot in Soul Society. Things seems to go perfectly but troubles emerge as a familiar captain appears. What can Ichigo's family do to save him? -sequel to He Who Protects and Number One Guardian-
1. Captured

Protecting the Guardian

Chapter One: Captured

* * *

Within their barracks, the thirteen court squads are nothing special other than their own changes they made. Squad Eleven, for example, would have their own dojo for the members to spar anytime they want or were threatened by certain members.

Squad Thirteen was no different. It was normally tranquil and most shinigami would never stop for reason other than being sent by their captain or anyone higher than them due for not wanting to bother the captain with his illness.

Today was different.

Currently, a captain was walking down the hall with all officers dropping everything and standing aside to make room for the captain. His facial features didn't change at all as he walked down, his never ending smile didn't once falter.

He reached to the office and knocked quietly in a casual manners. The shinigami soon went back to doing paperwork were still curious as to why the Third Squad captain had arrived.

"Ukitake-taichou, it's me. May I come in?" his voice said over the door. It held great calmness for the news that it will soon speak.

"Come in, Ichimaru-taichou," the captain softly croaked. The door softly opened to a fox eyed captain smiling his usual, if not creepy, smile. The sickly man eyed him as he walked in.

"You sure that you're okay? With your lieutenant off on a mission for who knows how long, you should be really stressed," the captain assumed, standing in front of Ukitake. The news were known by all captains, no matter how much the disapproval Ukitake got for his decision.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," Ukitake whispered in a weak voice. Everyone knew that was lie. Ever since Kurosaki-fukutaichou, the captain has been in worse health than ever, making everyone wanting to help their captain in every way they can but this can cause him to make him worry even more and repeating the cycle.

Even the officers have try to persuade Rukia Kuchiki when she came to make her weekly summary to the captain to persuade their lieutenant come back from his mission to take control of their squad again to let their captain rest once more. But their captain forbade anymore of that talk and left his lieutenant back on Earth to continue whatever his mission was.

"Now, why have you come to my barracks? It's not everyday that someone like a taichou like you comes and visit me."

"Eh? You must get so lonely then! It's a good thing I came then! Now back to the news," he began, "Have you heard the recent rumors of your lieutenant and his mission on Earth? All around my squad I've heard these rumors, and I thought that you should hear them to. After all, he is your lieutenant," he smiled.

"No, what are they?" he asked, curious to what had even make the usually creepy captain think that the bit of news, rumors even, was interesting.

"Remember, these are just rumors. Not true for now. But they say that your lieutenant broke one of Soul Society's sacred laws. They say he killed a helpless human without your consort or anybody from Soul Society in that matter. They also say it was a nasty kill too. Bloodshed everywhere!" the fox captain grinned as he saw the sickly captain's reaction.

"Killed?"

"Yup. In the cold blood they say. Aizen-taichou was already sent to capture him and bring him to his punishment back here in Soul Society."

"Why?! Weren't they just rumors?!" he reasoned, hoping that he was just playing a joke on the white haired captain.

"A rumor, yes. But Soul Society can't take any chances. If it is true, then they'll bring him to justice. But Aizen-taichou said he had proof and volunteered himself to even go and get him back here. But if it's false, then he'll be taken back to Earth to do whatever mission you sent him for. I'll warn ya though, if Aizen-taichou thinks he killed him, then he's probably right," Gin said.

"And what would be the punishment if he was convicted for murder?"

The captain almost didn't want to hear the answer. The laws of Soul Society were not to be taken lightly and the punishment were great if they were to be ever broken. And considering what the law was, the punishment was already known.

At this, the already wide smile of Gin's widen as he leaned in closer as if it was a deep secret for no one other than themselves to hear.

"Execution."

----(Divider)-----------------------------

Three months passed since Ichigo last set foot on Soul Society. He had only just gotten used to his new home. School was his biggest problem, but he soon got over that also. The lieutenant had to go under a alias though, and bleach his gigai's hair white, much to his dislike. When Rukia asked why he hated it so much, he refused to answer.

Soon after, though, the Kurosaki family had adopted into a "normal" routine. Ichigo would go to school with Rukia like any other teenager would. Then, at about noon, he would switch places with his Kon, his mod soul he gotten from Urahara, and deal with the town's Hollows and any other Shinigami responsibilities. Rukia will stay back to make sure Kon behaves, not that the mod soul ever complained.

After school, he would then get back into his gigai and bring Kon back into his plushie form and do anything he wanted from there.

As of now, he was currently shopping with his mother for groceries. She, apparently, was not at all surprised at her son's strength and used for her own well being. As in carrying all the bags whenever the girls of the family, including Rukia, decided to have their monthly shopping spree.

"Kaa-san, why do I have to carry the bags?" Ichigo complained behind a mountain load of bags. He didn't even know what his mother bought to produce these many bags from the grocery store.

"Because Ichigo, you are very strong and your Kaa-san isn't. And besides, if you didn't eat as much as you do, you wouldn't have to carry so many bags every week," she answered, not even looking at her tortured son.

Ichigo muttered something unintelligible and continued to walk. He still loved his mother, but at times, she could be unreasonable. They were at most, five blocks away from their house and Ichigo could go to bed until diner was made and wouldn't have carry a billion bags.

_Almost there. _He thought and began to pick up his pace.

"Ah, there you are Kurosaki. I didn't think you'll be participating in such ordinary activities," a voice behind him sarcastically commented. "And to think you even dyed your hair. I almost took you as for someone else."

Suddenly, the atmosphere around the mother and son tensed. Ichigo carefully let go of the bags and walked casually to the man while reaching for his Shinigami badge.

"Why are you here, Aizen?" he asked, standing protectively in front of his mother who was in shock from seeing the man.

"Careful fuku-taichou, you wouldn't want to crush that woman with your spiritual pressure," the captain smoothly smiled.

Ichigo calmed down a bit, but he was still enraged by just looking at the man in front of him. The calm smile he held didn't help either.

"Now, if you would calmly come back to me to Soul Society. There seems to be a problem, and they need you to solve it, " Aizen calmly demanded and was about opened a Senkaimon when Ichigo released himself from his gigai.

"I'll be an idiot if I went along with you," he stated and gotten into his fighting pose.

"I-Ichigo," his mother whispered. She was already on her knees, almost unable to breath.

Her son didn't even look back at her. "Kaa-san, go back inside please. I'll come back in soon. I just need to deal with this guy, and we can go back like this never happen."

But she didn't listen to him. She sat there in the same spot and watched as her son fight to protect his right to stay here.

"So she's your Kaa-san? That's strange. I was almost sure that she was where you got your immense spiritual pressure," Aizen observed. He didn't feel threatened at all.

"Just shut up and fight!" Ichigo yelled and charged at him. The orange haired teen pointed his large sword towards him.

In a quick second, the attack was dodged by the fifth squad captain and Ichigo wounded.

"Tsk, tsk, Kurosaki. I would have thought that you were better than this. Perhaps you weaken over your stay here," Aizen joked which only angered the teen more.

"Ichigo?" his mother asked.

"Stay back!" he yelled and quickly got back up.

"As much as I want to see you try to injury me, I have my duties to Soul Sociey to tend to," Aizen said. He flash stepped out of view for a second and then appeared behind his mother with a sword to her throat.

"Now come like a good boy and no one will get hurt. Unless you need to see a little bloodshed to come," he smiled and pressed the sword tighter towards her neck.

Ichigo remained motionless, unsure at what to do. He held his sword up to Aizen, looking ready to attack him. But he knew there was no way too attack without hurting Masaki. He looked at his room's window to see Rukia watching the whole scene. She provided no help on the situation. Seconds passed and the sword slowly began to cut the woman's neck. A drop a blood fell to the ground before anyone said anything.

"Wait! I'll go, but you better not hurt her anymore, or anyone else in her family," Ichigo bargained starring at the drop a blood on the road. Aizen smiled and released her harshly onto the ground. The lieutenant growled in annoyance but said nothing.

"Come, we shouldn't keep Soul Society waiting," Aizen smiled and opened the Senkaimon.

"Ichigo! Don't Ichigo!" Masaki screamed. The teen didn't look back, if only to not feel the guilt in leaving his mother again. He disappeared with the captain and left the mother scratched and heartbroken.

----------(Divider)----

It has been a year since he saw the person who was escorting him back to said destination and he dreaded that the reunion came so quickly.

"Kurosaki-fuku-taichou, I'm glad you came so willingly. Leaving behind your family once again, it must be painful, but I'm sure they'll understand," his escort suddenly said in hopes to cause Ichigo to react.

"Like hell I came here willingly! You threatened to kill! Why am I being sent to come back anyway?!"

"So disrespectful. And I didn't kill so unwittingly, unlike you. There is no need of me reminding you of your title, now is there?" he smiled lightly.

"Aizen," Ichigo only said and remained quiet. Said captain frowned and quietly recalled the story.

"The Resurrected Shinigami. Fitting name I supposed for all those battles you won since after that incident a few years back, but at what cost did you pay for that name?" the fifth squad captain asked openly, not expecting an answer from the only one following him.

Ichigo growled in response and tried think of a plan to escape while he was rambling."That woman, she was your mother correct? She seemed so scared when I took hostage of her. I wonder if it was me she was scared of or was it you who seemed so ready to attack her?"

Amber eyes glared at the back at Aizen's head and breaking his train of thought at the mention of his mother. He could never forget that look on her face when he left through the gate.

_It was the same face that I saw when I died. _The teen thought back.

As they drew closer to Soul Society, silence grew between them along with Ichigo's hate for the man in front of him.

"Taichou!" A guard greeted and stood back, watching both him and Ichigo coming through. Though Ichigo himself was not looking, he knew the guard was watching him in disapproval along with disappointment.

"I never thought you'll be the one for revenge," the orange haired shinigami commented seeing as he was getting dirty looks from all the guards in Soul Society.

"Revenge? I'm only here to bring you to justice. If anyone, you should be looking for revenge on Soul Society," he replied coolly.

They walked on, both getting opposite looks from shinigami passing by them. Ichigo received the glares while Aizen gained the admiration for bringing in the once known invincible or "resurrected" lieutenant. Girls swooned as the captain walked by.

"Aizen-taichou!" his lieutenant greeted. Hinamori. It was a sad sight to see that even she fell for the act that only Ichigo knew about.

The captain held his hand in response, signaling her to stop and allow him to walk. As Ichigo walked by, he saw that Hinamori held distaste for him now. He could only imagine Renji's reaction to all of this.

Arriving at the prison, he cuffed and a limiter used to strict of use of his reaitsu. All of his personal items, including his Shinigami badge and Zanpaktou were taken and put on a side table far from the cell and his reaching point. He was then placed in his cell with him on the inside instead of the traitor in front of him.

"If you excuse us, I'd like to have a word with him," the taichou asked. They dismissed themselves and left the two alone.

"Ironic, isn't it? Haven't you always been the one to say that I belong in your position?" Aizen smirked.

Ichigo breathed deeply, and scowled, trying to not even more negative attention to himself for killing that man.

"One day Aizen. You'll pay," he swore as the captain walked out with his hated smile on his face and gears in his mind turning.

_Everything is going into place_. He thought and softly chuckled to himself.

-------------(divider)---------

"Masaki, please cheer up," her husband attempted. The mother was once again mourning over her lost son after only being with her for three months before leaving.

The twins were currently in their bedrooms, continuing to watch the window in hopes that their Ichi-nii will come back.

"My fault, again. My fault," she muttered repeatedly. Isshin sighed and tried once more to comfort her beloved wife.

"He wouldn't want to come back to that, now would he?" Isshin said, in his calm voice. For the first time since the event, Masaki looked up to her husband, wondering what he meant.

"You crying and mourning over him. He isn't that kind of the man to not come back and leave you suffering, is he?" the doctor asked and knew that he was going somewhere.

"No," she sniffled and took a deep breath.

"Then stop mourning and believe in him. He'll come back, I promised. Even if he doesn't want to, Daddy will make him come back no matter what," Isshin smiled and leaning in for a hug. The wife smiled at him and returned the gesture with a small kiss.

Kon stood in the background, hoping that the man was right. He had often heard Ichigo describing that captain while talking to nee-san as one of the strongest around even though his appearance might not show it.

"Kurosaki-san, if I can interrupt, " a small voice called out.

The parents looked to see Rukia standing in front of them. She had been graced to stay behind and not be seen from the captain.

"From what I saw, Ichigo has been charged of crime from breaking a law of Soul Society. The penalty is normally death or rather burned to death. If he has a chance to escape, it'll be very slim. The best way to save him will probably to go in and represent him. I will do so with your permission," she suggested.

Masaki looked surprised at the offer, but refused.

"But there is no other way!"

"Other than doing something crazy?" Isshin smiled.

Rukia's eyes widen as she caught on.

"You can't just break in! It's almost impossible! The taichous and fuku-taichous are probably ten times stronger than I am and Ichigo had just been defeated by one!"

"We have some friends that can help. And you surely are allowed to come with us if you choose so," Masaki smiled, trying to give some comfort to the worried teen. It had looked like the mother had recovered from her drama.

"What about Yuzu and Karin! They can't come at all!"

"We have a family friend to watch over them. They'll understand. Besides, they want to see their brother more than anything, they can wait," Isshin said, looking up towards the girl's room. Then another problem came up.

"What about Ichigo? Most of his friends are resistant when erasing memories are involved. And we can't just say he's going on a trip. He already missed enough school as it is," Rukia argued.

Kon was nominated in impersonating Ichigo while they were gone. All he had to do was to make sure he behaved and freedom will be given.

"So, Kuchiki-san, anymore complaints or flaws you may or may not have?" Isshin asked. Rukia shook her head and smiled.

The plan was set. The only problem was Masaki. As a human, she could not access Soul Society in her form.

"Don't worry, Urahara will figure something out," Isshin smiled.

Everyone in the room glowed with determination as the sun disappeared behind the small town. The operation will start early morning or even tonight, just as soon Urahara completed doing whatever he needed to do to get them to Soul Society. They were going to get back Ichigo no matter the cost.


	2. Reunion

"You are to be executed in thirty days. Until then, reflect on the crime you have wrongly committed," the officer informed and left the red head in his cell alone. Said red head sighed in annoyance in the guard. That guard was the kind of people he hated. The ones who think they are so powerful when they become seated officers and thought they so all mightly when they face someone who was weaker than themselves. But as for now, Ichigo welcomed the silence and began to regroup his thoughts.

Though this wasn't the case for long as another familiar lieutenant ran inside furious.

"Hey Renji," Ichigo asked in a bored tone, not even looking at his friend. The suspected criminal laid on the floor with his back to his friend in a bored tone.

Said friend wasn't in the same mood as Ichigo.

"What were you thinking? Killing someone like that! That isn't the Kurosaki Ichigo I know! Tell me the reason!" The Sixth Division's lieutenant screamed. Even though Renji knew Ichigo for a few years, but it was enough to become very close friends and rivals.

The orange haired teen sat up and looked straight towards his pineapple friend. His scowl seemed to deepen and his eyes showed true annoyance in his friend.

"Why would I kill someone?! I knew nobody in the World of the Living when I was on my mission! Tell me Renji, why do you think I kill someone in cold blood?" said Ichigo, annoyed his friend had so little reliability in him.

Renji took a step back. Even though the lieutenant in front of him had restrainers on him, his reiatsu was still dense and powerful. Ichigo took a deep breath to gathered his reiatsu. His friend got closer, but was still speechless. In a moment, he got the message and began to look more serious.

"Who framed you?" Renji asked concernedly. He understood the message well. This wasn't just some stupid mistake.

"That doesn't matter right now. What I want you to do is to get a hold on Rukia. Make sure she's safe in the real world, or at least just safe. Then destroy your phone and pretend you never even called her," Ichigo instructed. Renji raised an eyebrow at his plans.

"Why?"

"Because, if-"

"Lieutenant Abari, Captain Aizen wants to talk to you," an officer said behind him. The man was bowed down, so he couldn't see the face, but he noticed Ichigo growl in disdain for the officer interrupting him.

"Captive Kurosaki, I would think you should refrain from talking to your guests about plans to escape or such. You shouldn't get a great leader like Abari into your foolishness and crime," the officer muttered and beckoned Renji away from the cell.

The lieutenant nodded and looked at his friend once more. His eyes were focused on the unseated officer's unseen face.

"And what is you name, officer?" Ichigo asked in rudely. He showed openly that he hated the officer and the disturbance he caused.

"Fujimaru Kudo. I must inform you to not ask any more questions Kurosaki Ichigo. If you do, I'll have to call other officers to further decapitate you. And from the looks of it, I'm not sure where they would put the next restrainers." Fujimaru smiled and showed his face. He had messy dark blond hair. His eyes were closed because of his smile.

The captive acknowledged the officer's request and let Renji be led away from the cell. For some reason, he couldn't tell why he was so wary of this guy.

He looked back at Ichigo, who had his back to the entrance again, and walked with the officer.

"Um, Fujimaru, when were you admitted into the Gotei 13?" the red head asked.

"I was admitted into the fifth squad three months ago. Captain Aizen had told me he wanted to speak with you. You probably didn't see me around because I was so focused in becoming like you, Lieutenant Abari. I hope to be as good as a Shinigami as you were!" the officer commented and happily walked to the Fifth Squad's quarters.

Once they entered though, Fujimaru was no where to be seen.

"Must be off doing paper work, or something," Renji muttered and entered Captain Aizen's room. The captain was sitting at his desk peacefully as always doing jobs a captain did.

"Captain," the pineapple bowed and waited for his superior's response.

The man looked at the lieutenant with a curious eye.

"I suspect that you have already seen your friend, correct?"

Renji nodded in confirmation.

A sigh escaped the calm man's lips as he walked forward to his former squad member. He ordered him to rise and put his hands on his shoulders. The atomsphere around them changed drastically from a calm one to one full of tension.

"Abarai, I know this is hard, but you must no longer trust your friend. That man, Kurosaki Ichigo, is no longer the man you once knew. He's a beast, a monster in human flesh. That's why I brought him in justice. Do not trust him. That trip to the World of the Living changed him," the fifth's captain warned.

The red head looked in shock.

"If you can't believe me, look at my sword over there," Aizen pointed towards a small table. "I set my sword to be cleaned later, but as you can see, blood is still on it. Kurosaki attacked me, but I dodged the attack just in time, though I had to use my sword to deflect his attack and ended up attacking him," Aizen explained and walked passed the confused lieutenant.

"Do not worry. Justice will prevail and soon this would just be a bad memory," the captain soothed and walked out of his office to leave the shinigami to his thoughts.

Renji looked down to his feet. He was confused and didn't know who to believe. The proof the captain showed was very convincing, but he knew Ichigo very well. Suddenly, a hell butterfly appeared in front of him.

_Attention all officers, lieutenants, and captains. Two ryoka and a rouge shinigami has infiltrated Soul Society. Stand guard and prepare to kill on sight. _

The news shook the pineapple out of his shock and went out to find the intruders, hoping to see if the rouge shinigami wasn't Rukia.

----------(divider)------------------

"_Now remember, you have at most four minuets to cross over to Soul Society. At best, you probably won't make it. But please, don't let that overwhelm you." _Isshin played the shopkeeper's message over his head.

"When I get home, I'm going to kill that man!" the husband yelled. In front of him were his wife, Rukia, and a talking cat. Behind the trio was a moving wall accelerating at a frightening speed. If any of them stopped, it would no doubt tried to eat them.

"If you have time to speak, then run faster!" the cat yelled as they neared a light.

Masaki remained quiet and tightened her grip on her right hand. At top speed, she ran forward and was the first to reach Soul Society.

Isshin was second to leave the death tunnel, Rukia came third, and last came out Yoruichi. They stood in the outskirts of Rukongai near the west gate.

"We're finally here," Masaki whispered and looked at her husband. Isshin was fully clothed in shinigami uniform minus his haori. He reasoned that he might have someone remember him and that wouldn't have been a good thing.

Isshin nodded and tried to sense his son's spiritual pressure. It was no where to be sensed.

"It seems that Ichigo has been restrained and locked in a containment cell as of now. Seeing how it was Aizen that stole him, I suspect he is in the fifth division's barracks," he observed and looked at Rukia with an uncommon serious face, "Ms. Kuchiki, I believe you should be our tour guide for this trip."

The noble noded in agreement thinking if they had the direction skills of her lieutenant, they were as good as dead. She walked forward towards the gate. The four gates were guarded from the four cardinal directions. At the West Gate, it was guarded by Jidanbo, a good friend of Rukia due to her trips to update her captain..

"Jidanbo!" she yelled and waved.

The giant looked down to see the noble and three others below him.

"Rukia, it's good to see you! Where is that rude little strawberry? What? Is he really going to still stay there? It can't be that good of a place!" the guardian joked. The midget was surprised to see that he was informed of Ichigo being taken from the real world.

"He's still back in the real world messing around as usual. Mind letting us in?" she smiled, trying to not let him know that she was lying. It was best if they could get in without must of a commotion.

"Hmm? Sure!" he smiled at the officer and her friends and began to lift open the gate.

_Step one: Get into Soul Society. Check_, Isshin thought out the steps in his mind and breathed a deep breath as he saw the city of souls for the first time in a long while.

"Shoot 'em dead, Shinso," a sudden voice said and a sword suddenly extended and struck the gate guardian down cutting off one arm. The other still holding the gate up, but with great stress against it.

"What's this? A gate guardian opening a gate? See, that's not supposed to happen. Even if the intruders beat ya, ya have ta die before they get in. That's the rules, right Jidonbo?"

"C-captain I-i-ichimaru," Rukia stuttered. She felt his spiritual pressure coil around her as she stood in front of the captain.

"I have too. Rukia Kuchiki is a well-known shinigami. Why can't I?" Jidonbo reasoned fearfully.

"Tsk. Tsk. Jidonbo. I would have thought that the news got to the guardians first. Don't ya know? Those four have been named rouges of Soul Society. Though, since you seem to honestly not know about it, I'll let it slide. Now let go of the door, or do you want the arm to come off too?" The smiling captain looked at the four as if trying to memorize all of them.

The gate guardian looked at the captain, trying to decipher whether or not he was serious.

"Three."

"Two."

Before the captain got to "one", the giant let go of the gate and watched as the door slid downwards. The last they saw of the smiling captain was when he bowed down and smiled, "Bye Bye!"

The door closed with a thud and guardian leaned back and fell along with the door from a few seconds before. Citizens of the town behind them had gathered and looked at the strange souls, wondering if they were dangerous.

Isshin was the first to react to the devastating event and immediately went to heal the wound. He used what he knew in healing kido and hoped that it was enough to stop the bleeding.

His wife went over to cover it with cloth to help.

Rukia went to the crowd to get rid of it. Yoruichi walked over to the Kurosaki parents.

"You do know that the only way to peacefully enter the city is ruined now," the cat reminded them, but got no response.

By nightfall, the wound was healed and one of the families had invited them over till morning came.

"What are you going to do now?" Yoruichi asked.

"What do you mean?" Maskaki asked in a innocent tone.

"Will you leave? Or will you try to find another way in?"

Rukia stayed in the corner of the room, listening to the conversation silently. She was amazed that even after everything, the mother was still determined to save her son.

The mother smiled and looked at the cat. "I don't think you now how important this mission is to me. We came to save Ichigo from what ever is after him. And that is what we'll do. As for getting in, Isshin has a friend who can get us in."

From his grumpy expression, Yoruichi could only guess who he was thinking of.

"Tomorrow morning we'll find them and then start our operation!" she smiled. It seemed that Masaki was left in the dark as to who the friend Isshin mentioned.

Rukia looked up from her train of thought, and began to think of who they were talking about, and by the looks of Isshin, dreading to meet.

"_Could it be? No, that house couldn't be that popular that even Ichigo's father would know,"_ Rukia reasoned. _"Not ever since..." _She drifted away into thought.

The plan was decided and would start the next day.

* * *

A/N This chapter is kind of slow for me. The next one might be too, but after that, it'll go a little faster. On another note, does anyone know how to make Rukia not seem to defenseless? You don't really see her much other than her saying, "I'm sorry Ichigo" or being locked up in a tower, so I really don't know how to write her here. If you do, please tell me. And please review also!


	3. Plans to Escape

"Yoruichi-san, um, where exactly are we going?" Rukia asked, feeling slightly anxious about her surroundings. They haven't been walking for long, but the path they took was full of steep hills and had a rocky road. Even Masaki felt a little worn from the trip despite her energy for finding her son.

"Don't worry, you'll see when you'll get there. But I was warn by Kisuke that you shouldn't overact once you see the house," the black cat answered and continued walking with its back to the group. The petite soul reaper looked over towards Ichigo's dad to see that he was dreading the moment he sees whoever they were going to meet.

"Really Yoruichi, do we really have to see that beast? Isn't there another way?" the father complained and trudged along, following his faithful wife.

"No," answered Yoruichi.

Isshin grunted and continued to follow their animal guide. Rukia wondered what kind of person they were going to see. By the way Ichigo's father talked of him or her, she sounded horrifying, but Yoruichi talked of her as if they were very close friends.

It was herself and Ichigo's mother that were left in the dark who this mysterious person was. It was either because they were worried about their reactions, or that they would turn around right that moment.

"Isshin, really. This person can't be all that bad," Masaki said, annoyed by her husband's constant whining.

"Oh why world! Why have you let my faithful wife go against me. If only my two daughters were here! Then they'll comfort me!" the father began to yell, but was silenced by the mother.

"Really Isshin? Now?" she threatened and walked further away from him. He cried silently and walked a distance away from her.

"Hush you two. We're already here," Yoruichi announced and stood on a high hill and observed the house in front of them.

By the time Rukia had gotten a glimpse, he face got white and her legs were about to fail her. "Kukaku Shiba," she read. A flag was held by two human hands carved from grey stone. Behind the small house was a giant chimney that was covered at the top. It was different from the last time she saw it, but there was no doubt that this was the house of her

tutor years ago.

As the group of four walked closer to the house, Rukia felt her strength leave her and her courage along with it. It was Masaki who noticed it first.

"Rukia, is something wrong?" she asked, stopping to talk to her son's friend. The raven haired shinigami looked at the mother's eyes for a second and looked away.

"No, it's nothing. Let's keep going," the unseated officer lied and walked at a faster pace, despite the sick feeling in her stomach becoming increasingly more painful.

A sudden hand reached her shoulder.

"Rukia. You're like a third daughter to me ever since Ichigo brought you here. He's actually told me about your family situation. So please, don't be afraid to open up and talk to me. And call me "Mom" if you don't mind," the parent smiled and walked on leaving the Rukia to her thoughts.

The small officer looked at her with her violet eyes in new light. And suddenly, everything cleared. She felt no pain or sick feelings in her gut. A small smile appeared on her lips as she caught up with the group.

"And don't forget Rukia-chan! You can call me daddy, my third daughter!" Isshin cried out, earning a small punch from his seemingly pacifist wife.

"Really Isshin? This is the second time now!"

"But why can she call you 'Mom', but she can't call me 'Daddy'?"

"Because I don't want to ruin her by having you as a father. Our three children already want to move out of the house because of you," Maskai explained and left her husband in fake tears.

The cat sighed in annoyance after seeing the two parents quarrel with each other. It honestly questioned how it was going to live through the rest of this adventure.

"Halt! Who dares enter the grounds of the Shiba clan?" two voice roared simultaneously. Up on two pillars were two men, one on each pillar, watching the "intruders" approaching the embarrassing looking house. Then men both jumped to the ground, almost crushing Rukia in the process.

"Two shingami? What business do you have with Master Shiba? The master is a very busy person!" one guard yelled and stared down.

Isshin stepped up and said, "Look, we're just here to see an old friend. We'll be going now and-" before he could finish, a large spear had threatened to attack.

"The Shiba are enemy of the Gotei Thirteen. There is no reason for," the guards looked down, "Master Yoruichi!" they both said and bowed down to the cat who was staring up to them in the cutest way possible.

After many apologies later, they were finally guided to see this mysterious Kukaku Shiba. Masaki was very curious who this person was and why her husband felt so scared just being in this woman's house. Rukia began to dread the moment she stood inside the house. She was amazed why the guards didn't notice her. The sick feeling came back again and she knew talking it out wouldn't make it leave.

"Master, we have visitors," the guard said while the opening the door to the so-called master for a slight peek.

As soon as he closed it, he bowed down again and opened the door widely so they all could see.

Masaki was the first to see the master. And the first observations she made was that she was a women. At first, the fact passed through her mind without a single care. Then she remembered her husband's attitude towards the woman, as if he was scared to know her... own... reaction.

Before anyone could say anything about anything, Masaki rushed forward, grabbing Isshin by the ear and dropping him down roughly onto the floor in front of the Shiba leader.

"And who are you?" the leader asked. She laid spread across pillows and seemed like she was relaxing before they showed up.

"I'm Masaki Kurosaki, Isshin's Kurosaki's **wife**. My question is how you know my husband and why he seems so scared to meet you?!" she yelled, ignoring her husband's pleas to quiet down and wait for an explanation. The result was a very heated argument which everyone else already had their fill of.

Except Kukaku who on the other hand found this very amusing. After seeing the couple argue for a few minuets, she spoke up.

"Isshin apparently hadn't told you about us then. Back when he was a shinigami, we were friends. That's all. Nothing more or less," she explained and watched as the the auburn haired woman looked at her husband in embarrassment. Isshin turned away, not wanting to be mad at his wife or show that he was mad in any way.

"Well, now that's over. Shall we go along with business, Kukaku?" Yoruichi said while walking with silent paw steps.

"I don't suppose this 'business' you have is going to be a walk in the park, is it?" she asked the cat.

"Nope. In fact, it's going to be quite hard even with someone with your skills."

"It's been a long time since we talked like this," she joked, "Okay, let's hear it."

* * *

_'Hundred-one, hundred-two, hundred-three, hundred-four, hun-'_

"_Hey King, whatcha counting for?"_

A sigh escaped Ichigo's lips. He was counting the silence before his Hollow showed up. Even though he was annoyed that his Hollow had want to show himself now of all times and not when he was fighting Aizen, he was happy that he showed anyway. Without his help and Zangetsu's, he'll probably never escape the cell before his execution.

Ichigo checked to make sure none of the guards were visible around his cell. After seeing the coast was clear, he entered his inner world, leaving his soul body in a comatose condition.

When Ichigo opened his eyes, he found himself in his distorted blue city. Buildings ran sideways and the sky moved upwards. Ichigo himself had wondered if the rain fell sideways rather than vertically. Zangetsu and his Hollow would never tell him and still won't to this day. Speaking of his Hollow, shouldn't he be-

"Yo," an albino welcomed.

Ichigo still hitched his breath after hearing his voice even though he had heard it for at least four years now. He turned around to see his partner in a nonthreatening stance with an middle-aged man beside him.

"Ichigo, what is happening in the outside world?" his sword asked. The lieutenant sat down on the distorted building they were standing on. The clone of Ichigo did also, wanting to her the story his partner had to tell.

"We've been caught by Aizen. He took me to Soul Society and somehow convinced everyone that I had killed a human. They say I am to be executed in a month. I already tried to warn Renji, but chances are, Aizen had already tried to confuse him. So the only chance out is to break ourselves out of here," the red head explained. Zangetsu nodded in agreement, but the Hollow was still thinking. To him, there was always at least two choices.

"What about that girl? Won't she try and save you?" he asked.

"Who? Rukia? She's in the World of the Living with Mom. I don't think they'll be a big help anyway. Mom and Goatface are humans. They can't attack Soul Society," Ichigo answered, but saw that his Hollow thought otherwise.

"Do you really think that Rukia-chan is going to sit back and _**wait **_for you to come back, with the possibility that you probably won't?" the white twin asked. The carrot top huffed in realization. He was right. Rukia was probably coming and was probably already labeled as a rouge shinigami to save him along with anyone else she brought into this mess.

"So now that we have a story, what's the plan?" the hollow suddenly asked, wanting to get his King to think of another subject. He knew Ichigo was never good at thinking, especially if his friends could be in danger at that very moment.

Ichigo, momentarily fogetting about his friends, looked at his two other parts of his souls. If he was going to make this plan work, he was going to have to use them to their full extent, and even becoming creative in a few ways.

The first stage will be to examine the guard patterns. One that is accomplished, they can take advantage of whenever the most guards are and escape the cell and cause as much commotion as possible.

The second stage will involve Ichigo and Zangetsu to get into as many unnecessary fights as possible and still be able to have enough energy to get to the next stage. This will avoid all attention towards Rukia and whoever she brings into her plans and to signal where he is.

The final stage will consist of Ichigo and his Hollow to find Aizen and trap him in a tight corner, making him surrender his plans before they go any further.

It was the last stage that made the plan seem impossible without getting into more trouble. Ichigo has to make it look like he's fighting on the good side, not on a rouge side. If he kills a captain before he revels his plans, then it will get him into more trouble then necessary. But if he's too late, then Soul Society will be heading into a war later.

"Any questions? Zangetsu? Shiro?" Ichigo asked.

"Can I have a name change?" his Hollow asked. The question threw Ichigo off for a second, but he quickly recovered after seeing his Hollow was serious.

"Why?"

"You were eleven when you gave me that name. Not that I don't want a name, it's only that 'Shiro' is so demeaning. I want something with an actually history behind it. Not just a color," Shiro complained.

"Why did you pick now to ask?"

"Because you asked if we had any questions, and I'm wasn't sure that I'll get another chance," he answered blandly, making the answer seem like it was common sense.

"I'll think about," Ichigo answered, leaving his Hollow slightly happier.

"What about Aizen's lieutenant? Wouldn't she get in the way in killing him?" Zangetsu asked.

"We'll deal with her if we have too," he replied. The sword nodded at the answer and stared up into the sky. Something was amiss in this plan, but he couldn't pick what it was.

Once everything was cleared, Ichigo disappeared from his inner world. Leaving his Shiro and Zangetsu alone.

"He came a long way, hasn't he, Zangetsu-san," Shiro commented.

"Yes he has. Already he had accomplished Bankai, but I'm afraid that will not be enough to stop Aizen and his plans. Soon, he will need to use you as well," the sword said.

Shiro sighed. He knew Zangetsu was right, and he was happy that Ichigo will finally be able to use his powers, but what would happen to him? He thought of many theories, and the one that made the most sense scared him the most. A inner Hollow was not supposed to exist in the soul of a Shinigami. If he was suppressed, would that mean he would disappear?

The Hollow looked up and wondered about the future.

* * *

A/N So Chapter 3 is out. How do you like it? And any suggestions for Shiro's name? Nothing like Hichigo or Ogihci. And please review!


	4. Backstory

"Tch. Figures Ichigo would get himself captured by some captain. He's too scared to go all out on someone, even when people's lives are at stake. Fine, I accept. But only because I trust you and I owe the kid a small debt. But just to make sure you guys won't try anything funny, I'm going to stick my minion with you, just for insurance," Kukaku agreed and walked up to a door off to the side.

"Minion?" Isshin questioned. Apparently the word brought up many memories resulting Isshin's face to go sour once more.

"Debt?" Masaki repeated.

Rukia stayed off to the side of the whole conversation, wondering the leader of the Shiba had forgotten her or something of that manner and trying to figure out whether she should apologize now or get it over with later. She felt no tension from the female leader, but still feared she held a grudge against her for the event from before.

"My minion is actually just my little brother. And as for the debt, it's his fault I'm in that little strawberry's debt. So it's going to be his problem to tell the story to you all. Hey, are you ready in there?"

"Uh, just a minute! Okay!" Behind the door, shuffling was heard and the voice was muffled. It was definitely male and seemed to be panicking from the sudden call.

"This is my brother, Ganju Shiba," Kukaku introduced and opened the door to reveal a man still quite young. He wore a huge grin and his eyes closed, looking very happy to meet the guests.

"It's an honor to meet you all," he smiled.

"I am assuming you heard the story from behind this door, am I right?" she asked. She didn't receive an answer for Ganju was too interested in Ichigo's family and friends, especially the Soul Reapers. They shuffled uncomfortably in his gaze.

"Hey, am I right, or am I wrong?" The Shiba leader asked, looking as if she was going to kill him on the spot.

"U-uh, yes! I heard the story, big sis. S-s-sorry about that!" the younger brother quickly blurted out.

"Good. That's what I thought," she smiled, "Take them upstairs to the dojo. And tell them the story of you and Ichigo. Don't leave out any details and make sure you tell them you're sorry for what you've done to their son."

Without a second thought, the younger brother quickly scurried upstairs, guiding the group to the dojo. Masaki was finally understanding why her husband had such a bitter reaction to this woman. She also wondered if her son, if they ever met, had the same feelings.

"Wait. Rukia Kuchiki. You stay here. I would like to have a word with you," the leader asked and watched as the petite Shingami froze in sudden fear.

Rukia quickly turned around. Her violet eyes watched as elder sister walked up slowly, almost like a cobra about to attack. Not sure what to do, she bowed down in an attempt to ask for forgiveness for her sin. Her hands were on the ground and tears flowed out of her eyes. She tried say sorry, but the words wouldn't form. Memories of her tutor reappeared in her mind, causing the sick feeling in her stomach to come back again. Footsteps were heard, but not much else.

Suddenly, the hairs of Rukia's head were pulled up and brought her to her feet. Kukaku's face was now very close to Rukia's own. A small frown was found on the Shiba's leader face as her hand released its grasp on the Rukia's black hair. Said hand was then put on her hip, but her face still wore the small frown.

"Don't bow to me," she said.

"I-I'm very sorry. Th-that day, I tried to sa-"

"Be quiet," Kukaku ordered. The raven haired shinigami was getting the feeling that she was very disliked by her tutor's sister and decided to follow her words.

"Ukitake told me the circumstances you fell under. If it weren't for you, Kaien would probably be considered a enemy of Soul Society and would have killed many officers and others before getting killed by someone else. You shouldn't have to apologized," she explained. The raven haired shinigami looked towards the ground at the sound of her tutor's name. She couldn't face the memory of Kaien's death. The thought of it wanted to make her vomit. But it still gave her some reconciliation that the Shiba leader had at least forgiven her for her actions, even though Rukia couldn't do so herself.

"I am sorry," Rukia said and was hit in the head by the Shiba leader.

"What did I say? I said that you shouldn't apologize. Now don't let me hear you say those words again!" she ordered. She reminded Rukia too much of Kaien, almost as much as her friend she was trying to save.

"I'm so- I mean, thank you very much for the advice, Master Shiba," the petite officer said after seeing the threatening eyes of the elder sister.

"Now go. I'm sure you wouldn't want to make your friends worry about you being alone with me," she said and turned around. Rukia bowed in gratitude and quickly climbed up the stairs. So quickly, that she didn't notice the small smile on the eldest sister's lips as she left the room or the single tear coming down her cheek.

"Kaien, I hope you know, she cared for you very much. Thank you for letting me meet her," she prayed and slowly followed her guests out the door.

* * *

"Big Sis is sometimes way too hard on me," the youngest of the Shiba clan sighed. Inside the dojo was quite large. It was almost as big as the first floor or maybe even bigger of the Kurosaki Clinic. In the center were sitting pillows for each of the guests set by servants ahead of time. Ganju sat in the center of the group, and waited as the cat and the couples sat down.

"So, you are Ganju Shiba?" Masaki asked in an attempt to break the silence.

"Yeah. Has Ichigo talked about me? Did he say how great I was?" asked Ganju, feeling a bit proud for just knowing the carrot top.

"Nope! You're a complete stranger to me!" she happily answered, crushing any bit of pride Ganju might had have. The remaining guests sweat dropped at the mother's reaction.

After regaining his composure, the younger brother cough to gather attention and began his story.

"A while back, probably a few years, I still rode with my gang through Rukongai. I would always do it at night, even though my sis told me that was when Hollows were most prone to. Hollows were still rare in Soul Society, but when they did appeared, they were strong. I had never encountered one, until that day. It was night out and we somehow got lost into the higher ranked districts,"

//Flashback\\

"Hey, Big Bro, I think we should turn back. Something isn't right about all this," a member of Ganju's gang suggested.

"No way, Bonnie is leading us somewhere. It's probably like a giant stash of money, or something like that," the leader of the gang rejected and continued on way. He check the clock on one of the member's back. It was still seven.

Minuets turned into long hours and before they knew it, they were already lost. Time was running quick and Ganju began to worry about actually being lost and not being able to get back to his sister in time.

Finally, a sign was found. But instead of being an ordinary sign, it was a happy omen for the gang.

"See! Bonnie was leading us to our safe haven. We'l just check this sign and follow our guts to get home, like real men!" the "Big Brother" encouraged and walked up. Suddenly, the happy omen just turned into their death sign.

80th District of Rukongai, Zaraki.

The gang was gathered up in hope to wake up from their nightmare and into a home in safety. But no one woke up. Everyone stayed closely knit together and shuddered at every sound made.

Before long, a spirit appeared. The spirit wasn't the kind you'll see at the lower districts, though. It was a violent, and apparently saw killing fun, spirit. In his hand was a knife and on his face a crooked smile. Weren't they lucky.

"Hey. I haven't had meat for a long time. You think I can borrow your boars from you guys." he asked, but the gang knew it was not a request. They remained silent, whimpering next to their pigs.

"No? And I thought I could have a peaceful meal. I was actually considering sharing with you guys for being so nice. But that might have been boring. I think I'll just have to take it from you!" he cheered and lunged towards them. With the his "Younger Brothers" defenseless, Ganju stepped up and grabbed for his weapon... which he left at home on his bed.

The younger Shiba sibling was caught in attacking zone of the killer, and prepared himself to get stabbed painfully by the man. But the blow never came. It was blocked by a giant sword held by kid who probably not even twelve. The sword looked too big for him to carry, but the fact seemed false.

Looking more closely, the "Big Brother" saw that the kid was more cute than intimidating. Their attacker saw otherwise and ran away crying.

The child turned behind him and looking slightly worried. Several bruises and scratches were covering said child and bandages were wrapped over his hands. But despite all the handicaps, the kid still beat the murderer and successfully protect them from him.

"Hey, are you okay? You guys aren't hurt, right?" he asked. His voice was slightly tired, but still held a strong tone in his voice. It was when he walked into the moon light did they notice his clothes.

And the last thing Ganju wanted to do it thank the child shinigami.

"Che. I could have taken him. You didn't have to come and save us. So why don't you go home to your mommy and get away from here. This place is really dangerous, if you didn't notice," he spoke with such authority that could make anyone get ticked at him.

"Oh yeah? Sorry, I couldn't tell. Your screaming had me all confused," he sneered while wrapping his sword with cloth again.

"Well kid, you should **go home** and get away from here. We adults have some business to attend to. And you're welcome," Ganju smiled.

For a moment, the carrot top was stunned at the stupidity of the last statement from that man and then asked,"For what?"

"For saving your sorry head. If we weren't here, that murderer would have come after you and no one would save you," the gang leader explained as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Nah uh! My, uh, friends could have taken him if I couldn't! And besides, you guys were here screaming like a baby. I thought it was some damsel in distress, but I guess I was close!" he laughed. Then, as if he just remembered something, he held out his hand. At first, it seemed like an attack, but instead it was a greeting.

_This kid is weird_,Ganju thought, _Why bring manners into this conversation now, of all times?_

"I'm Ichigo. Kurosaki Ichigo," he introduced. Ganju and his friends would have laughed at the name, but angering a kid with a very large sword wasn't the best idea.

"Ganju," the man said and got back on his boar. The "younger brothers" followed their leader and gathered their pigs and rode them as well.

Without another word, the boar gang rode off.

//End Flashback\\

"Turns out, he followed us for a good half an hour before telling us that we were going to wrong direction and heading towards deeper into Zaraki. He guided us out without fail, but it took us all morning. In the end, I was punished and Big Sis had said she owed him big time for bringing me back. He would come around here sometimes, but not much. It was more or less him coming here on accident then on purpose since we move a lot.

Masaki, Isshin, Yoruichi, and the newly arrived Rukia took the story in very slowly. It was apparently new to all four of them. It was the always caring mother who was awarded the first reaction.

"You are to tell me that my son Ichigo Kurosaki, who wasn't even at the age of twelve back then, was at the most dangerous district in Rukongai and you let him leave, not knowing where he was going!" she yelled.

"H-hey, lady, we wanted him to stay if anything! But he said he needed to go back to his friends, whoever they were," the storyteller explained in an attempt to defend himself.

"Did you ever find out?" Yoruichi asked.

"Nah. Ichigo is too stubborn for his own good. I could never get an answer from him, or at least a good one. He would always tell me that they were strong or something like that," Ganju replied.

Rukia stayed quiet. She had never heard this story before, despite being Ichigo's friend for a few good years. If this was true, then it must have been before he was transferred into her division. Now that she thought about it, no one talked about the sudden transferred. It was restricted by their captain. Not even her lieutenant talked about his previous squad.

"Rukia, did you know anything about this?" Isshin asked.

She shook her head and thought some more on the subject.

"Speaking of which, aren't Shinigami restricted on going out of the city's walls without permission? Judging from the story, Ichigo didn't seem like he was on a mission or something like that. He seems like he was training for a match or something," the wife observed.

The group thought more on the topic, but it wasn't much since Kukaku opened the door very loudly, interrupting any train of thought anyone may had have.

"Looks like my brother told you his story. We are sorry we couldn't keep him, but he was very persistent on leaving. But no matter, tomorrow we will start training so you may save your son. But tonight, we eat!" she yelled and platters of food appeared brought by servants.

The sour look on Isshin's face reappeared meaning whatever this training was, it wasn't going to be pleasant for most of them.


	5. A Stunning Meeting

Ichigo, like on most occasions when he was mad, scowled at he ceiling as if it was the source of all his problems. His plan he had masterly planned out in a matter of hours, that was almost guaranteed his freedom out of his cage and to bring justice to Aizen, was destroyed within a day after hearing that his parents had arrived in the city of souls with Rukia. He made a mental note to knock some sense in the midget later, or just yell at her for making such a stupid decision.

It was very likely that Soul Society might capture the two adults and use them as a bribe for his agreeable surrender or to make sure Ichigo doesn't try to escape. It was also very likely that the fifth squad captain will propose the idea just to make sure he won't do anything that might threaten his so called plans.

The Soul Reaper growled in disdain. He shouldn't be wasting his time on hating the glasses wearing captain and his tea drinking buddies. In just a few weeks, he's going to be disintegrated into dust with three captains he hated the most watching with their stupid grins, even though they were the ones who deserve it more than him. They were the ones who put him into this position.

The teen shook the thought off. He had to think of another plan. Plan after plan went into his mental trash bin. He decided that he'll just play by ear as things went on. Seeing how the glasses wearing soon-to-be traitor captain seems to be able to counter every one of Ichigo's plans with a simple choice. If he were to do things that even Ichigo himself wouldn't expect he'll do, then maybe he would bring Aizen to justice once and for all.

"Um, Ichigo?" a meek voice asked from the doorway, interrupting Ichigo's train of thought. The red head sat up and turned around to see a fourth division officer with a tray of food in his hands. At first, the teen didn't notice it, but after seeing the food, he realized that he had been hungry despite the wrist, ankle and neck restrainers that had been placed on him when he was captured.

"I-I-I br-brought y-your food," the officer stuttered. In the back of Ichigo's mind, he thought he knew this person. His dark hair and nervous voice certainly rang a bell.

"Hey, you're Yamada Tarou, right?" Ichigo asked in a casual mood, hoping to calm the nervous boy down a little but still curious about the identity of the officer. He apparently said the wrong name when the officer opened the cell and looked slightly disappointed.

But then, the fragile fourth division officer sighed in what seemed like relief after hearing Ichigo's question about his name.

"Um, no. It's actually Yamada Hanatarou. Even thought everybody says it is an easy name to remember, you seem to miss it every time, Lieutenant Kurosaki," Hanatarou smiled, as if he was relieved that Ichigo didn't change.

"Uh, sorry. I was never good with remembering names and faces," the red head apologized, feeling slight surprised someone was still calling him a lieutenant even though that someone looked as if he was going to kill him. He unlocked the gate and came in very casually, as if talking to an old friend.

"It's okay. We only met once, so I didn't expect you to remember. But I guess it's all right that you still remember me. We met once when you got into a fight a while back, before you became lieutenant of Squad Thirteen. You wounds really did scare me though. But I was really surprised that you survived them even though you were so young," the apparently very ordinary boy laughed. He set down the tray in front of the red head and locked the cell again.

Ichigo gave him a blank stare. He didn't remember that. He remembered Hanatarou as a person he met, but not where or when. He just assumed it was an officer who took care of him while he was in recovery. Now that he told him the story, he couldn't help but think that Aizen had something to do with this.

The lieutenant pushed the story aside and asked, "Hey, Hanatarou, what have you heard of Rukia and her group? Anything new about them coming into Soul Society?"

The meek officer began to speak only to be interrupted by an order of another officer.

"Hanatarou! Where are you? We need some help cleaning the mess hall! There's no way we're going to clean it if you're here!" the rude man yelled. The seventh seat officer looked away from the captive hesitantly and ran to the call. But along the way, he had dropped the keys to the cell and didn't notice they had fallen from his hands.

If there was a place above Soul Society, it was blessing him for all the good things he had done in his life. Ichigo was especially happy that the blessing was opportune moment. He carefully maneuvered his restrained hands through the bars to reach out towards the keys.

The keys were far off, but if he stretched a little, he could... maybe just reach enough to... almost...

_'Hey King!' _

Ichigo yelled in surprised which caused him to push the keys further away. If this was the way the place higher than Soul Society decided to punish him for all the times he fought officers to an almost fatal match, the universe truly did hate him and his guts.

'_You know the whole name conversation we had a while back? I was thinking, how about Jirou or like Yori or something? I didn't want something girly, and I just remembered your talent for picking names and all,' _Shiro joked, obviously talking about the mod soul back in the World of The Living.

Ichigo on the other hand didn't find the whole situation humorous at all.

"_Why did you pick now to ask? I was this close to getting our freedom and you blew it by scaring me!" _Ichigo was now sitting up now with his eyes closed. He was also very agitated with his Hollow, almost to a point it was getting childish.

_'If you were so close to getting our freedom, then why weren't you more concentrated on getting the keys then being scared of me?' _Shiro asked, his smiled could almost be heard as he put it on.

"_Just shut up. I'm mad at you. I'm not even going to talk to you anymore," _The Soul Reaper mumbled, acting very childish. He knew he didn't meant it, but the words just flew out of his mind.

_'Aw... I can't remember you like this since you were like eleven. Really, Ichigo? Have you really dropped that low that you're arguing with me like you were eleven?'_ Shiro snickered and disappeared from Ichigo's thoughts. The keys in front of him taunted the captive as they stood still close to the doorway. It was no help that Shiro's laugh echoed his mind as he scowled at the keys.

"Just a minuet please, I just forgot something in here!" a familiar voice called out. Hanatarou appeared once again to find his keys in front of the doorway. Ichigo's amber eyes refused to looked directly into the physically weak boy and stared to the ground. He couldn't bare to destroy any hope that he was truly good and didn't want to kill anyone he saw now that it looked as if he was trying to escape.

Footsteps were then heard and slowly getting louder as the complains grew louder also. Then an unfamiliar click was heard and the squeaking of the cell door.

In front of Ichigo was his blade sheathed in its usual white cloth with the cell door open.

"Please hurry, Lieutenant Kurosaki. They'll find us both here and this would mean nothing. Rukia and the others have not arrived yet. Captain Ichimaru had said he took care of them. But they are not dead. Rumor has it though, they are looking towards the Shiba clan to get into the city," the seventh seat smiled as he spoke. It was clear that he hadn't believed the crimes he was falsely accused of and was very comfortable telling Ichigo all of these things even though it could mean his life might be turned in to the hands of the Court. He finished unlocking all of the restrainers and moved out of the way.

Without another word, Ichigo got out of the cell and passed Hanatarou.

He muttered a "Thank-you, and sorry," and silently knocked the generous kid out with his outrageous spiritual pressure. The officer was on the floor and had looked as if he was pressured to unlock the captive and then brought to unconsciousness. He knew this story would not last long if the fourth squad captain or someone with more wisdom than a regular officer came by, so Ichigo quickly ran through the door, raising his spiritual pressure gradually to attract more attention

_'Looks like we're back and kicking king,' _Shiro smiled. By his tone, it sounded as if he almost knew that this was going to happen, though he didn't comment. He was still mad at his Hollow.

_'Hey King, you're still not mad at me, are ya?' _The Hollow asked. His voice was slightly tainted by worry?

_**'Ichigo, what do you plan now that your parents have arrived?' **_the sword spirit asked, changing the subject of his wielder's thoughts.

"I'm not sure Zangetsu. We'll just play this on the spot and see what happens," Ichigo said and busted his way out of the fifth squad barracks and into the streets of the city of souls.

* * *

Masaki stared at the unusually large cannon in front of her. There was no doubt in her mind that this was how she and the rest of them were going to enter Soul Society. Beside her, Isshin looked annoyed if anything about this special lecture the Shiba leader was reciting. The history of them must have been far for him to be this disrespectful towards this woman.

"Listen up. This thing will end your worries in getting into Seireitei. 'How?' you ask? I'm going to blast you there by flying," Kukaku announced with her fist slightly shot into the air.

"B-by flying?" Rukia asked, confused on how they were going to achieve the task.

"Yup, or else my name isn't Kukaku Shiba, fireworks expert!" Isshin raised an eyebrow at her title and gave a little snort.

"Since when have you become an expert? Last time I knew you, you were still a novice at this! Shouldn't it still be, like graduate or something?" the old friend teased. His observant ears were rewarded with a firecracker thrown his way.

"Raise it up!" she ordered and the ceiling began to open and the ground below them rose to the surface. It took no longer than a minute to finish the hard task.

Masaki and Rukia were amazed at the effect while Isshin kept his very rare solemn face and Yoruichi looking the same as always.

"Impressed?" the leader smiled, observing the surprised looks on the two females.

"Not really," Isshin muttered, and had another firecracker coming his way.

"This is my own personal giant fireworks cannon!" the elder sister explained.

"The Kakaku Cannon!" Ganju interrupted and was kicked in the head for saying the title before his sister. It was really not the guys' best day.

The Shiba leader then went on, talking about how the cannonball of the cannon was going to be the group's spiritual pressure compressed into a dense sphere around them.

"Just take this cannonball and pour some spiritual pressure into it. It'll take it and do the rest itself. The hard part will be controlling it the whole time and making sure everyone is putting their effort equally too. You, noble, why don't you try?" The female master tossed the ball and almost immediately formed the sphere when Rukia touched it.

"This girl has talent!" One of the guards exclaimed.

The raven haired shinigami was speechless. She had never heard of this technology at school. It was completely new and foreign to her. And most of all, it was astounding how easily this technique was mastered.

For the most part.

Isshin was up next. Kakaku specially chose him, knowing full-well that this was the event that he was dreading. From the minute he picked up the spiritual pressure compressor, he knew no one, especially his wife, would let him live this down. In just several seconds, smoke arose and a giant "Boom!" was heard everywhere in Rukongai. For a split second before the explosion, the doctor could have saw a slight smile of nostalgia on the firework master's face.

"Isshin? Are you still okay?" his faithful wife coughed in the haze of smoke. She searched the cloud as best as she could, holding her breath as long as she could. As it cleared, she saw Kakaku's foot on top of the lunatic man and now-realized spiritual pressure user.

"So you forgot all the training I personally put you through, huh? Doesn't surprised me, after seeing you in what, thirty years? But really! I knew you were rusty at this, but I think this was worse than the first time we tried this!" Kakaku was slowly crushing her old friend's skull with her I'm-going-to-kill-you maniac smile.

Once the smoke cleared some more, it had looked like the whole place was covered in ashes from the exposition, even the people close enough to the explosion had soot covering their faces. Isshin faced the worst damage and was was completely covered from head to toe and almost looked as if he was a man made from the ash. The eccentric father knew he would have to clean the place up once they scored everyone's control over spiritual pressure.

Yoruichi had displayed it had the greatest talent. It didn't surprised anyone though. It was an obvious fact. The talking cat had many talents, including matching the speed of specially trained Soul Reapers.

The last to be scored was Masaki. She was the most interesting to watch. At first, no one expected anything to even shape, being a human with slight spiritual pressure to see spiritual beings after all. But they were all proven wrong when they saw the barrier being formed slowly and turning into an almost exact replica of Yoruichi's sphere. Her eyes slowly open from concentrating and was even surprised herself to see that it actually worked.

"Masaki! My loving spouse has proven that she has better control over her spiritual pressure! But how is this possible? She has not received any training of any sorts! Her husband had made sure of that, because he was always trying to protect her!" Isshin complained and attempted to hug his so-called loving spouse.

"Not this time Isshin," she gave a hard punch to the father and revealed a small charm in her other hand.

"That old charm? Didn't you give that to Isshin to protect him or something?" Yoruichi asked.

"Yeah, but he doesn't need it anymore. So I took it to Urahara and had him take a look at it and modified it so that I could manipulate spiritual pressure around the area around me to my pleasure. He said it kind of copied of the Quincy style, whatever that is," Masaki explained.

"The protective charm Masaki had given me! Oh she has finally taken it back and made it more useful for herself. I'm so proud to be named your husband!" Isshin proclaimed and danced around the area.

"Looks like that goat face is still the same as before. At least he isn't screaming about me like he used to," Kakaku muttered. She threw a bucket and a mop at the middle aged man without a single miss and ordered him to clean his mess up.

"Then we can go on with your training, seeing how everyone else, including your wife who you claimed had no practice at this, has surpassed you after you had years and years of practice with this! You can be assured that this training session will not be pleasant in any way," The Shiba leader smirked at the dreaded look she had caused and laughed away evilly.

"There are very few things I hate in this life. And meeting her has to be one of them," Isshin muttered, once again returning to his rare sulking mood.

* * *

A/N Thanks to NESK () for Shiro's name suggestion! I think I'll just have a poll for deciding what name Shiro will have. Suggestions for his name are still welcomed!


	6. Doubting the Past

A rare calm fell over Seireitei; almost as if it was letting the soldiers of Gotei relax before something chaotic happens. It was a calm that made Renji anxious for the future.

He sat alone in the empty training grounds of his squad, pondering on the words of the fifth squad captain and his best friend. In his mind, he thought both spoke honest words but seemed to have managed to not tell the whole truth either. It frustrated the sixth squad lieutenant that Ichigo still had a problem in trusting people who would put their lives at risk for him.

"That idiot and I have been friends for at least four years, and he still can't grasp the fact that we're supposed to trust each other," the lieutenant ranted to no one in particular. He sighed and wondered if Ichigo had already pulled off a reckless stunt to escape that cell.

He hung his head back to stare at the clouds that floated lazily above him.

"Five clouds, just like that day," Renji observed and thought back to when he met the orange haired idiot.

/Flashback\\

"Alright, all of you rookies here are now part of the sixth squad. I'm your lieutenant, Abarai Renji. Your captain, Kuchiki Byakuya, is currently handling a situation in his clan. Due to that, I will have to tell you the importance of our squad. Being part of this squad means that you should all work hard at pertaining Seireitei's laws and making sure this squad is the best of the whole Gotei," the red head lieutenant announced and frowned as he heard a few groans from the crowd. He admitted that the speech didn't make their squad seem any different from any other, but he knew better than to change the words of his captain.

"Any questions?"

"Does that mean that if one of us betrays Seireitei, that this squad will be the first to go and kill that person? Even if he save the whole city from a catastrophe?" a high pitched voice asked from the crowd. The question suprised Renji. It was odd that an officer would questioned the word of their new superior, or even the laws of the Central Forty-Six.

"I'm not sure we'll be the first to be dispatched, but I guess that's the law," Renji answered, unsure what else to say. He looked above the crowd trying to see who had asked that question. His eyes finally rested on a little boy, definitely younger than what a normal shinigami graduate would look like. His bright orange hair made him stick out like a sore thumb even more with the crowd of much taller rookies. The young boy's eyes showed no fear when Renji began to stare him down.

"You with the strange hair, get up over here," he beckoned and watched as all the other officers' eyes looked at child. The orange haired officer walked up with nerves of steel and tried to meet the lieutenant's eyes but failed due to his height.

If one squinted, it looked as if Renji was a younger officer's cousin of distant relative. No one said anything commented about it though. The child officer kept a small smile on his lips, as if this was all a simple staring contest. Now that he thought of it, he looked as if he could be a playmate for the eleventh squad's lieutenant.

"What's your name?" Renji asked, trying not to sound too fierce.

"Ichigo Kurosaki," he answered, feeling slightly insecure as some snickered at his name. Even Renji couldn't help but smirk at the name.

Suddenly, Renji slowly brought out his sword and got into a basic stance. The crowd in front of them gasped as they foresaw what was going to happen next. Ichigo, however, seemed to not be phased by the lieutenant and kept his happy-go-lucky attitude. That smile reminded Renji too much of the third squad captain's smile. The resemblance was almost scary.

"Look kid, since it's obvious that you have brains to at least think for yourself. You also have a lot courage to be questioning out captain's wisdom and even the wisdom of the Forty-Six. Now let's see if you have the skill to beat me. So bring out your sword and let's have a little sparring match so I can show those rookies how strong our squad really is," Renji ordered, but frowned as the child did no move to do so.

"What? Don't tell me that you already lost that courage," he provoked.

"I didn't lose anything. I just thought that I wouldn't need my zanpaktou today since my captain said that I could have today off," Ichigo explained. His eyes glinted with an innocence sparkle.

The sentence threw the red head off his stance. It was one thing that a captain would let an officer have a day off to relax (which was almost too much of a dream for Renji), but to think he wouldn't need his zanpaktou was just being plain crazy in Renji's mind. A zanpaktou was part of its owner's soul. Leaving behind it was leaving behind a part of oneself.

The rookies whispered among themselves as they listened to the conversation of the two Death Gods.

"How long have you been in that squad?" Renji asked, still being skeptical that a captain actually let him had a day off or that he was actually in a squad to begin with.

"A year, more or less," the carrot top answered. His scowl obviously showed that he was getting annoyed by the whispers of the young shinigami in front of him.

"What squad are you in?"

"Um,"

"You don't know? How can you not!"

Ichigo didn't say anything else. His eyes darted across the training grounds, as if scanning the area to make sure no one was watching him.

"So, are we going to fight?" Ichigo asked, eager to change the subject.

"What? You're defenseless without your zanpaktou! How can you fight?" Renji responded, completely forgetting his previous question.

"I can still fight. There has to be an asauchi somewhere around here, right?" No one answered. Renji was still shocked that he still wanted to fight against him, a lieutenant.

_This kid probably isn't a seated officer, _Renji thought.

Ichigo sighed and began to think about another an alternative

"Fine. Then let's play a game of tag. But let's add some stakes to make it interesting. If you can land one hit on me before the sun goes down, I'll do all your paperwork for the rest of the year. And the next one too. But you can't use your Shikai," Ichigo bargained, a mischievous smirk slowly forming on his lips. The rookies spoke among themselves once again.

"What do you get?"

"The satisfaction of beating a lieutenant."

Renji was excited at the bargain. The child showed a lot of potential as a great shinigami, if not a little rude. But his major fault was that he thought he could do anything; he had too much pride. He knew all of that pride would shatter if the carrot top was beaten. But he did, after all, had just bargained a year's worth of doing paperwork for him. And that was too much to resist.

"Okay, you got yourself a deal. But don't be crying when you'll be doing my paperwork for the rest of the year, Strawberry," the lieutenant cried and charged after him.

Ichigo rolled his eyes for a second and disappeared from the red head's view.

"Like I haven't heard that one before," the child frowned and appeared behind from behind the lieutenant. Said lieutenant looked up to the sky and then to the orange haired officer. The sun was high in the sky and both were only getting started. Several memories from his time in the eleventh squad came up. Renji smiled in excitement. He hadn't felt like this for a long time.

After hours of intense dodging and sword swings, the two Shinigami laid spread across the training grounds. They were both tired from the match and fell to the ground without declaring the winner in words. Though both officers knew that Ichigo had won the competition. The group of rookies had already disappeared into their barracks due to the headache they received from the intense reiatsu the two of the fighters emitted.

"Five clouds," Ichigo suddenly observed.

Renji could only turn his head. It was amazing to him how much reiatsu that kid had. Ichigo was in better shape than the lieutenant himself even though it was Ichigo that used more reiatsu in his shunpo and was still able to talk without gasping for air every word.

"Five clouds in the sky. Don't forget it. If you do, then we're going to have to do this again and that's something I wouldn't want to do," the vacationing officer explained.

"Why is that?" Renji inquired, his voice hoarse from lack of moisture in his throat.

"Because then I might have to do your paperwork for a year, and I already hate doing my own paperwork," the child joked and laughed softly and then softly yawning.

The red head looked to the sky while the boy beside him began to doze off into a quick rest. He counted exactly five clouds in the red sky also.

"Five clouds, I think I can remember that," Renji smiled and fell asleep on the floor with full knowing that the two of them were going to be long-term rivals.

/Flashback end\\

Back then, Renji didn't understand why Ichigo had wanted him to remember that the sky had five clouds in the sky. As the years came by, he slowly realized why.

Renji's memory wasn't the greatest. Everyone knew that. Some even made the unwise decision to tease him about it. The only thing he can remember is every battle he ever fought. Ichigo was the same but with an added twist.

Ichigo could remember the resolve of each of his opponent. He could remember each swing of their sword and how powerful it was. He wanted Renji to remember his own resolve that day. So he made him memorized the number of clouds so that number would automatically make him recall the intense battle. Why Ichigo wanted him to remember the battle to the smallest detail confused the pineapple lieutenant, but never questioned it.

As Renji slowly removed himself from his day dream, he found a black swallow tail butterfly coming his way. He let out his finger to let the butterfly land and to allow him to listen to the message.

"_The captive Ichigo Kurosaki had escaped his cell. We instruct all shinigami to be prepared at all times in case you were to find the captive. He is highly dangerous and caution that all officers to attack him in groups." _

The butterfly flew away as the message finished.

"Tch. Knew that idiot would do something like this. Sometimes I wonder if we were right to call him a prodigy back then," Renji wondered and walked into the roads of Seireitei, searching for his now criminal friend.

* * *

"Wrong! That's all wrong! I could teach a monkey and it would do better!"

"Well, why don't you just teach your mother or something?"

"Why you-"

"Come on Kakaku! I think I can take you now! I'm not a wimp like I was from before!"

Rukia, Masaki, Yoruichi, and everyone else in the Shiba household had tried to stop their arguments many times, but had failed with every attempt. By now, they had all just try to ignore them the best they could. But even Masaki, despite living with the man causing the arguments for over twenty years, could not block their conversation at all.

By now, she had had enough of their meaningless fights.

"Quiet!" Masaki yelled after opening the door they were forbidden to open. It was the doorway to the training dojo, but do the Isshin's explosive cannonballs, they were to stay outside the dojo for their safety and to attempt to block the voices of the people inside. Though, everyone doubted that Isshin could produce another explosion as bad as the first one.

The moment the door was open, Masaki saw that they were wrong for the most part.

The the explosion looked like it had toned down a bit, (nothing had been destroyed despite having the cannonball blow up every ten minutes for at least three hours) but the ash it produced seemed to doubled. Isshin seemed to blend in with his uniform due to the charcoal ash on his skin. Kakaku wasn't in as bad shape, but was still in dire need for a bath. The floors were covered in at least five layers of soot and the walls were probably in worse condition. A pair of brown eyes were pointed to the one that would have to clean the mess up.

"That's it! I'm done for today! Clean this place up Isshin and we'll start again tomorrow," Kakaku ordered and walked out of the room, exasperated at the her unworthy and untalented student.

The doors closed behind her, leaving Masaki and her husband alone in the room.

"Oh Masaki, please say that you won't abandon me like that horrible beast had done! As my faithful wife, you should stay with me and help me clean this dirty room like a faithful housewife would!" the father cried. His tears beginning to clean to ash off the floor.

Masaki didn't answer. Not even a hit to the head like what she would normally do to settle her husband's over excitement. She looked towards the doorway Kakaku exited.

"What's the history between you two?" she whispered, as if the question was shooting bullets at her.

"Oh! My Masaki is jealous of that horrible monster! Don't be! Your husband will protect you from her-" It pained Isshin to be stalling like this, especially to see his wife to be hurting like this.

"Isshin. Tell me," Masaki's eyes were serious.

Isshin blinked and set his mind into a serious mood. He was prepared for this question, but he didn't knew how to start the answer. He knew he couldn't tell too much, but she wouldn't settle for too little either.

"What do you want to know?" he asked in a casual tone.

"Why do you act so much like rivals when you are with her, but with your family, you act like a clown? Are we just not that close anymore? After all, I argue with you all the time, but you never argue back, or at least like you do with Kakaku,"

"They're not acts Masaki. With my family, I want to keep them happy, especially you. Even Karin, even though she doesn't exactly enjoy it like Yuzu does, it let's her know that I'm okay and not worrying over something. But with Kakaku, I can't do that. I been friends with her forever. I can't help but to argue with her like kids. It's just my way to tell her that I'm still my old self and that I haven't changed too much," Isshin explained, mentally sighing that his wife hadn't asked for the whole story between him and Kakaku.

"But then why can't you treat Kakaku like family? After all, you seem to be very close to her," Masaki argued, not satisfied with the answer she was given.

"Because, I can only embarrass the people I love. Anyone else, and I might actually get hurt by them. Besides, Kakaku isn't that close with me to begin with. And it's a good thing too. There's no way I want to be related to that monster," Isshin joked. Masaki playfully punched him for the insult towards the fireworks expert and smiled. She knew her original question wasn't answered as well as she wanted, but the answer she was given still worked and made he feel better that she wasn't her husband's second choice. The scene was destroyed very suddenly when the doors slammed open and a beast walked in.

"So, Isshin, are you saying that I'm not that close enough to you for you to actually care about me and act goofy like you do with your family?" the furious visitor asked.

"Uh, wait, I mean-" Isshin was a deer in head lights.

"Well then, you're coming with me! You there! Clean this mess your husband made and make sure there isn't a speck of ash in the place when I come back," the Shiba leader ordered and left the dojo while dragging the doctor out with her.

"Ma-Ma-Ma-Masaki! Help!"

The wife could only sit and stare at the scene as it played in front of her. She thought about what her husband had told her and relaxed at the sight of the two rivals. If arguing was Isshin's way of telling Kakaku that he was still himself, then torturing Isshin was Kakaku's way of telling him that she was alright and to also get back at him whenever he insults her.

* * *

"There. Now bow down and beg for forgiveness!" the Shiba leader ordered.

"Didn't think you were such a kingly leader," Isshin muttered. He refused to kneel and beg for forgiveness. Kakaku glared at the man, but didn't do much of anything else.

The two of them stayed still as the sun began to set into the horizon. Neither said a word to each other, both staring at the other with an intense expression.

Finally, Kakaku asked, "What do you know about Ichigo?" Her mood easing out of anger and into a more calmer personality.

Isshin waited a moment, as if to make sure no one else was around.

"I know his secret, if that's what you mean,"

"Did he tell you?"

"Would you think he would tell his father anything about a secret that deep when he told not even his best friend?"

Kakaku had calmed down and began to drop down onto the floor, crossing her legs.

"How long did you know?" she asked, curious about the extent of the father's knowledge.

"I suspected at first, and the kid talks in his sleep too. That helped a bit. I talked with Urahara a bit and we pieced together a concrete story. How long have you known?"

"A few years after he walked into my house the first time. He was eleven then, and he didn't had a complete grasp on controlling his reaitsu. I could feel the smallest traces of it. I heard stories about him as the years passed and the pieces slowly fell into place," the Shiba leader spoke slowly, picking her words wisely so anyone listening would not understand what they meant.

Both stayed quiet for another minute.

"Do you think that he has something to do with it?"

"Without a doubt. And since he does, there's no doubt that he plans to have it unleashed,"

"What are you going to do when it does?"

"Keep Masaki away and hope that he's strong enough to tame it again," Isshin answered and stared into the horizon.

Kakaku felt relief come over her. She moved closer to the man who was in deep thought about his son.

_He's not going to hurt him. We're not going to have another Kaien. _

A small smile escaped her lips and the two longtime friends sat together like in their memories.

* * *

"Kurosaki Ichigo, we advise you to- Ugh!"

Ichigo brought out his sword to and attacked the officer, carefully not trying to fatally wound him. The surrounding officers began to stupidly charge at him one by one.

The captive took them out quickly and managed to not even to break a sweat.

_Hey, King, don't you think that this is a little too easy? After all, you are a lieutenant. They wouldn't just send some unseated officers and hope that you would just surrender,_Shiro reasoned._  
_

"Maybe, but we can't worry about that. We have to find my parents and Rukia first. After that, we can kill Aizen and go home," Ichigo said.

"And where exactly is your home, Kurosaki Ichigo?" a voice asked from behind. It was male and had a deep sense of pride in it.

Ichigo turned around and was met by a whirlwind of flower petals. The lieutenant protected himself with Zangetsu as best he could. They weren't flower petals though. They were the fragments of a sword. It was a fact Ichigo knew a little too well.

The owner of the attack retrieved the petals and they quickly returned to their sword form. Ichigo's body began to tense as the sword's owner was shown to him. His black hair and solemn eyes were too much of a bad memory for Ichigo to handle. His grip on Zangetsu tightened as he stood in a basic stance.

"Answer me," the attacker ordered.

Ichigo didn't answer.

_King, we better run now. Staying here isn't a good idea right now. Something isn't right with that captain._

_**Ichigo, Shiro is right. Something is wrong here. **_

"Is your home in Soul Society, where dead souls reside? Or is it in Kurakara town, where your mother and father live? Choose one, Kurosaki. Where does you loyalty stand?" the noble provoked.

"It doesn't matter where I stand, Byakuya. I'm still going to defeat you if you stand in my way!" Ichigo threatened, ignoring the spirits' warnings.

"So, even the mighty Kurosaki doesn't know where he truly belongs," Byakuya observed and pointed his sword downwards.

"Getsuga Tensho!" Ichigo yelled.

"Scatter, Senbonzakura,"

The two opposing forces collided, both at their max power. Ichigo's screams could be heard all over the City of Souls. Byakuya could feel his head piece cracking on top of his head. A blast of light came over them and it left a giant crater. Both of the two men was severely damaged with possibly fatal wounds on the shoulder blades. Their eyes were closed, signifying that both were unconscious.

Out from the smoke of the attack, a man calmly appeared and walked over the body of the noble and towards the lieutenant. He looked down and smiled.

"My, my Ichigo. Looks like you have gotten yourself into some trouble again, didn't you?" The mysterious man picked him up and carried him over his shoulder.

"It seems to me that now would be the perfect time to talk about those issues from before," the man smiled as he saw a bone white mask with a few red stripes on the left fall out of Ichigo's sleeve.

"Perfect indeed," the man concluded and walked away from the battle scene as shimmers of light floated into the air as the figure of Byakuya disappeared.


	7. Raising the Curtains

After another day of continuous yelling, arguing, and explosions, Isshin had finally conquered the ability to create a cannonball. Everyone thanked whoever looked over them in a quick prayer. They decided that at dawn break of tomorrow, they would be launched into the air and break into Soul Society.

The night came and went as the women of the group were excited of the flight launch. The other two members hoped that their plan wouldn't come crashing down, literally.

"Is everyone here?" Kakaku asked.

"It seems like it. Though, you little brother seems to be missing," Yoruichi answered, waving its tail lazily.

"I think I remember seeing him in the dojo. He was saying something and reading a book," Masaki recalled.

The older sister exhaled deeply and looked towards the doorway to the dojo. When the door showed no signs of opening, she walked closer to the cannon.

"Wait!" a voice screamed. Ganju came running out in a new set of clothes and holding a piece of paper folded a million times. "The hero always arrives late," he smiled and posed like a cheesy action hero would.

At first, everyone looked shock that he would actually say that. After a second of recovery, Rukia asked, "Aren't you just going to see us off?"

"No way. I still owe Ichigo my life for saving me back there in that forest. He wasn't like a normal Shinigami who just bragged about reiatsu. He acted like my brother. But then, my brother got killed by a Shinigami."

"Ganju!"

"You be quiet and listen to this too, Sis," the younger brother ordered. The Shiba leader looked shocked that Ganju had just ordered her around for once. Rukia tensed at the words "kill" and "brother". The petite officer looked at the leader in hopes of making him stop, but she did no move to do so.

"My brother was a genius. He was accepted into the institute after his first try and finished the six year curriculum in only a year. Five years later, he became a lieutenant. But then, he was betrayed by his comrades, the Shinigami. I was still young, but I remember that face of the demon Death God who killed him, and the face of my brother thanking the female Shinigami, Rukia Kuchiki," his eyes glared at the suspected murderer. The young Shinigami held her breath for a moment, speechless. She mentally slapped herself for forgetting about Ganju. Kaien was his brother too.

"Ganju, I'm sorry, I can explain-"

"Ganju. You sure are smart, just like how you described your brother" Masaki commented, interrupting Rukia's sentence, "But your not too keen on keeping your mouth shut. You kept your hate for Rukia inside of you this whole time, didn't you? You wanted to have Rukia train so she could rescue Ichigo. But when the time came, you wanted us to all exclude her from the group because of what you saw that night years ago. You wanted her to feel the "pain" your brother felt when he was "betrayed" by his comrades.

"But even if she did kill your brother, I can tell you that she wouldn't have done it on purpose. If she truly did want to kill your brother, why wait until then, at that moment? And why bring him here of all places? You don't know the answer, do you?" Masaki asked. Her eyes accusingly glared at Ganju.

"I'm not asking you to forget you hate for Rukia. I'm only asking that you wait until you hear the everyone's side of this story before you make any judgments on anyone. Though, I'm afraid that Rukia is a bit shaken up by your accusation of her killing your brother. So I'm suggesting that you wait until this whole fiasco is over to ask her about it. Then you can decide who's truly at fault. Until then, I hope you will be satisfied those few words of forgiveness," the mother finished.

Ganju only stared at the mother in disbelief. Isshin smiled proudly at his wife, resisting the urge to hug her and tell her that he was proud of her to make that wonderful speech. Kakaku remained quiet but smiled when the determined mother knocked some sense into her idiot brother. Rukia could only looked stunned at Ichigo's mother. The caramel eyes of the mother looked down towards the noble adoptive.

"I told you, you could always look up for me for help. All you need to do is call me "Okaa-san" for now on. Do we have a deal?"

Rukia nodded, thankful that she had come along on their mission.

"Hmp. Fine, but you better not ask me to watch her back. Even if she's a friend of Ichigo, there's no way I can still trust her a hundred percent," the younger Shiba agreed and looked down on the midget officer as if he was better than the raven haired Shinigami.

"Thank you," the wife smiled and walked back to her place near her husband.

"Ganju," Kakaku called after finally recovering from all the surprises she received today.

The younger brother stared at Rukia once more with an expression of mixed emotions and then ran to his sister's call.

"Ganju," Kakaku repeated and smiled, "It looks like your mind is made up. Just don't run away mid-battle, brat. If you want to do it, give it all you got!"

"Yes ma'am!"

"And don't forget that bargain with Masaki over there. Shiba clansmen don't go back on our word. I want you to watch Kuchiki's back and she'll watch yours. So you can forget about what you just said,"

"B-b-but," Ganju complained.

"Kakaku," Rukia whispered.

"No but's with me! You're going through this as a team! You all have to trust one another. Even if she did kill our brother, you're dead meat if you don't watch each other's back," the Shiba leader finalized. Ganju looked at Rukia with dissatisfaction. Rukia refused to meet his eyes.

"Now is everyone ready? I'm not waiting for little brats anymore," the fireworks expert smirked. Everyone answered "yes" with determined faces. Even Rukia, who was still feeling guilty of killing the Shiba's oldest brother, began to look at the cannon in hopes of retrieving her old friend.

It was explained beforehand that once everyone entered the cannon, they were to form the cannonball. The instructions were followed immediately and the blue orb surrounded them. Outside, Kakaku had begun to say the spell's incarnation.

"Kakaku Fire Method Number Two! Kagizaki!" The cannon was fired and the guests inside were all launched into the sky. Everyone had braced for a strong impact, but were surprised as it was launching as easy as a plane would.

"Huh? That wasn't the impact I was expecting," Masaki observed.

"Just wait. We're only in the first stage," Ganju smiled and pulled out his scroll. Suddenly, the orb was lunged in another direction at a great speed.

"Everyone! I'm going to recite the continuation spell. During then, we're going to need to focus our reiatsu so it's all equal to each other. This way, the spell would have more accuracy and we probably won't die from the crash," Ganju explained. Everyone nodded in agreement. They tried to match each other's reiatsu as best they could, but in the end they weren't able to make ends met.

"Isshin, could you please lower it some more?" Masaki asked.

The father nodded and took a deep breath to lower his spiritual pressure.

"Kurosaki-san, a little lower please," Rukia asked, struggling to raise her reiatsu to match the amount Isshin was emitting.

"I don't think I can lower it anymore," Isshin said.

"Isshin, I didn't think you were this unskilled," Yoruichi commented, chuckling at the adult Death God's continued attempts to lower his reiatsu.

"Be quite, you filthy cat," the father insulted.

"What did you call me?" the black cat asked, raising its reiatsu enough to be considered threatening.

"Isshin. Not now!"

"A filthy cat without a sense of beauty," Isshin mentally smacked himself for starting this whole conversation. Yoruichi felt the last nerve of tolerance it had for that man snap into two. The cat scratched the bearded man in the face which caused the man to scream in pain.

"Masaki! Help me!"

"It's your fault for getting in this problem in the first place," the mother sighed, not bothering to look at her husband's helpless state.

"Oh! Masaki! Even my Masaki cannot help me in my helpless state! Why, Soul Society, have you taken not only my son, but my wife's caring nature?" the husband screamed.

"This really isn't the time Isshin!"

All of the loud yelling from the mother and father and the constant yells of Yoruichi's beauty rant resulted in Ganju breaking his concentration and accidentally said a line twice. That resulted into more arguing between the parents, Yoruichi, and Ganju. The spiritual pressure emitted by the three rose gradually to the point that it could overload the cannonball.

"Everyone! Calm down!" Rukia yelled, attempting to calm down the trio.

"You be quiet murderer!"

"Ganju! I thought we had a deal!" Masaki yelled.

_CRACK!_

Everyone stopped from their arguments to look for the source of the sound. With grim faces, they found a crack in their sphere. Isshin was then reminded of his training period with Kakaku and how that crack was strangely nostalgic for him.

"There's no choice now! Everyone pour in your spiritual power! Isshin, try to restrain yours a bit!" Yoruichi ordered. The cannonball crashed into an invisible force covering Soul Society.

Below them, several officers and even a few captains were gawking at their shield being penetrated by the sphere.

"It must be an extremely dense spiritual force if it can go through the shield," one captain said.

But unknown to them, the cannonball had begun to dissolve above their heads. Its passengers didn't fall to the ground, however. They stayed in mid-flight, as if there was no gravity pulling them down.

"No one panic! Right now, the cannonball has hit the shield and is now dissolving. They are only momentarily intertwined. Soon it will begin to whirl, then burst and be destroyed," Yoruichi informed.

Everyone stared in panic. The spiritual force became denser and began to have a whirlwind type pull.

"It has begun! Quick! Everyone grab the person closest to you!"

"Masaki!" Isshin grabbed his wife. Masaki pouted slightly at her husband's fake tears of how he almost lost her. She looked over towards Rukia and saw that she didn't have a partner, but neither did Ganju.

"Rukia! Ganju! Grab hands!" the mother yelled. The Shiba refused to acknowledge his brother's murderer and refused to grab hold.

Yoruichi saw the conflict and pushed the younger brother towards the Kuchiki adoptive and had them lightly touching each other.

Ganju would have argued and tried to a fight with the cat, but the pull had begun to become even stronger. A great flash of light and the two pairs and Yoruichi were separated, each being represented by a comet-like glow heading towards the ground in three different directions.

Officers who witnessed the event, ran to their divisions to warn others and to capture the intruders. Captains were dispatched to find the captive Ichigo Kurosaki and could not be bothered to help obtain the ryoka. The calm that held Soul Society together was finally broken and had the City of Souls in chaos.

* * *

"Ichigo-san, wake up," a sing-song voice lightly said. Ichigo's amber eyes slowly opened to a dark room. The single window that was behind him allowed silver moonlight to shine through and created enough light for Ichigo to see a few feet in front of him. But what he saw made him wish he could destroy the window and fill the room with darkness.

What he saw was a silver haired man sitting patiently on a stool. The man wore a captain's haori that was covered in blood, but he didn't seem to mind it too much. He had a perpetual smile that made his appearance even more creepier than it should have, and his eyes were seemingly closed shut. And it all made Ichigo's blood boil.

"Gin Ichimaru," Ichigo snarled, saying the name with great distaste.

"Good, you're awake. I was worrying that you were going to die," the captain said happily, ignoring the red head's spiteful tone.

"You're lying. You're just following Aizen's commands. I bet he said to make sure I don't die today," Ichigo retorted and began to attempt to sit up.

"You never know, Ichigo. I could have done it out of the goodness of my heart. And, you shouldn't try to sit up right now. You're injuries were healed by me, and ya' should know by now that I'm no Fourth Division officer," the silver haired man warned, smirking at Ichigo's attempts to be in a sitting position. After a few tries at sitting up normally, Ichigo had settled to just lean against the wall behind him.

As his eyes began to adjust to the darkness, and he could see that Zangetsu was in a corner that was furthest away from him. And judging by his current condition and situation, it would be very unlikely that he would be able to get it anytime soon. Right next to his zanpaktou, he saw a iron door. A faint trail of blood leading from the door convinced Ichigo to believe his suspicions were true.

"Why did you save me? I was fighting Byakuya, wasn't I? I don't think that he would like it that you would just kidnap me all of the sudden of a fight," the red head asked, curious to why his kidnapper had done something that could drastically hurt their plans if he was seen.

The captain in front of him frowned slightly at the statement. He sighed before answering.

"Your senses are slow now. Didn't ya know that it wasn't the real Byakuya? It was an illusion, made by Aizen himself. I thought that it wouldn't work, that you were too smart for that, but it seems that I was wrong. I guess owe Tousen dinner now," he paused, frowning even more at his captive's shocked expression, "You're not the same as you once were, Ichigo. You're actually becoming predictable, and actually, quite dull."

"I'm sorry if I can't quite live up to you expectations, Gin," Ichigo growled, accenting the last word of the sentence. He had already recovered from the shock and a amber eyes were filled with malice. They glared at Gin, hoping that he would burn into flames that very moment.

Gin leaned back on the stool slightly, almost like he was remembering something from the past and avoided the teen's hateful glare for a few moments. During those few moments, Gin's face was without worry, something Ichigo hasn't seen for a while.

"It's too bad you decided to move out of my division," Captain Ichimaru commented, suddenly changing the topic, "And here I thought that you would stay in my division the whole way through too. But then you left, just when everyone was warming to ya' too. You know, Izuru still bakes a cake for your birthday every year still too. Why did you run away like that? Are you a coward?" the fox-like captain asked.

"I'm not a coward. The things you were doing weren't right. Maiming innocent officers like that, it's against the law," Ichigo felt the anger inside him rise as Gin continued to question his past decisions.

"Then why didn't you stop us? You could have, ya' know. Back then, I think even Captain Aizen was a bit fearful of your power, especially ever since that incident. Nowadays, I think he could care less about you. Your power is diminishing. Ever since you left to the thirteenth division, you could feel yourself becoming slowly weaker. Do ya know why?"

Ichigo stared intently at Gin, scanning his face for a sign that he was lying. The guardian felt his heart race when he could find nothing. Inside, he knew that everything that the prodigy in front of him was right. He was becoming weaker by the days. And Gin, Aizen, and possibly Tousen knew everything about it. He had to stop them as soon as he could. He had too. He had-

His head began to throb from all of the thoughts. He needed to rest. There was too much to think about right now and his energy hasn't fully recovered yet.

When the silver haired captain saw that he was going to get no response, Gin stood up and walked closer to Ichigo. He bent his knees so he was eye level to the teenager. Ichigo didn't notice how close the captain was in relation to him due to his headache.

"Do you want me to save your family?" the silver haired man asked. His voice held no tone of sarcasm in it. He was dead serious, and it was proven by his slightly open eyes.

Ichigo looked up at the captain. His headache was subsiding for the moment. Memories of his past came up and he looked down to the ground again, trying to rid himself of memories of candles and swords. Light blue eyes blinked as he saw the teenager become suddenly quiet and his breathing becoming more softer.

"I'll just take that as a 'yes' then," Gin whispered as he stood back up and walked away silently from Ichigo. He took off his haori and threw it over the giant sword. He took a new haori off the rack on the other side of the door.

Gin looked back once more and saw that Ichigo had dozed off to sleep again.

"See ya later, Ichigo," Gin smiled an honest smile, one that isn't forced on. He locked the door from the outside and walked away from the jail house.

"Do not get too attached to the boy again, Gin," a familiar voice ordered from behind. It came from the shadows, so the person couldn't be seen. But the captain prodigy had worked with the man long enough and knew exactly who he was.

"Ah, Tousen, ya' know me better than that. I'm not one for sad stories. Now what would you want for your end of the bargain? After all, you did win our little bet," Gin smiled. The blind man walked away in silence, not answering Gin's question.

In front of him, the sun was rising and three streaks of light shot though the air. One was coming closer to his direction. The spiritual pressure it emitted was a similar match to Ichigo's. It flew over the third division's captain's head and landed approximately three miles away.

Gin resisted trying to see what had landed there. He didn't have anymore time to spare to go look at some comet. He flash stepped quickly to Seireitei. It was just about time for the show to begin.


	8. Fighting Allies

"Captain Aizen!"

Several Shinigami had already begun to crowd the area. Captains couldn't believe what their eyes showed them. A young girl was on her knees with her head in her hands, bawling at what appeared in front of her. The fifth division captain had died and was now hung on a wall for all to see.

Gin was hiding from the group at a distance. He watched at all of the officers crowd around the illusion his previous captain had made. They were all hopelessly falling for the trap. As the scene rolled on before his eyes, he prepared himself for the role of the suspicious villain.

"No! This can't be real!" the young girl yelled. Gin almost laughed at the how true that statement was. If she were to further investigate Aizen's body, she could have tell that it was, in fact, was completely fake; a mirage. He would have like to have waited a little more and watch Aizen's lieutenant try to convince herself that the man in front of her wasn't dead. Everything about the child amused him. From her teasing behavior for the squad ten's captain to her her undying loyalty and almost unsettling love for her captain. But it was time for his role to take the lead.

"What's going on? Who is screaming so early in the morning?" He forced an eerie smile on his face. He walked with a little bounce to his step, almost looking like he was happy about the murder. He passed by Rangiku, careful not to make any eye contact with his classmate and walked closer to Hinamori. One mistake could make this whole scheme go diving into a hole with him and maybe a few others with him.

From the look of her eyes, Gin could tell that she had already suspected him to be the murderer of her captain. (No thanks to a certain captain, though Gin) The thought of Aizen's plan running this smoothly almost manage to make Gin frown and break his act. Everything was going to plan without a single mishap. It was becoming predictable and slightly boring as if it were all a twisted fairy tale.

"It was you!" she accused and charged forward, grasping the hilt of her sword. The third squad captain had to admit, Aizen must have been the greatest captain in the world to her for her to act like this. Gin didn't make a move for his sword. Hinamori was slow and he could have easily dodge the attack. But that wasn't his goal right now.

The attack was blocked by his own lieutenant. From what Gin had heard, his lieutenant, Kira, and Hinamori were supposedly very good friends during their academy days. It was interesting to watch them fight and listen to their arguments. Both were being loyal and defending their captains, and yet despite being old friends, were ready to kill each other without another thought about it.

It really became interesting when the fifth division lieutenant released her Shikai. Gin had to move away due to the explosion she caused.

The girl was angry. Really angry. The two of them were duking it out for what they believed was justice. All of it was just the sort of fun he missed from his past. Though, it was expected that his fun would end too soon.

"Don't move," Toshiro was always to serious for just a little kid. Hinamori just stared at him with a blank stare. Like all of her anger was just froze into calmness from seeing the child captain's cold stare.

"Restrain them... both of them," he ordered. Rangiku took the young girl while Hisagi took the blond lieutenant. "I will report this to the Captain Commander. Take them and lock them up!" Gin held his breath for a second. His lieutenant didn't take being in tight places, especially jails, very well.

"My apologies, Captain of the Tenth Division. My lieutenant seemed to have caused some trouble there," Gin apologized. The child didn't look back,

"Ichimaru, were you planning on killing Hinamori?" Gin didn't drop his act for a second. He was prepared for this question.

"Ah? What do you mean?" He didn't lie. He only danced around the bush.

"I'm warning you. If you let Hinamori shed even a drop of blood... I'll kill you." Gin looked at the child right in the eyes.

"My... my... my... What a terrifying thing to say! If you feel that way, you ought to be careful not to let the bad guys get close to her," Gin cautioned and walked away.

His part was over for now. All that was to do was to watch the rest of the plan go all accordingly until the next act. Once disappearing out of view, Gin looked up into the sky. Everything going to plan, which was convenient for them, but it was all terribly dull. He needed a complication; a problem just so he could watch the soon-to-be traitor try to think of a way to waltz out of it. The third division captain looked towards the west and his grin widen as he felt another fight go on.

Perhaps today wasn't going to be as bad as he thought it would.

* * *

One human, one unknown Shinigami, a cat, and the murderer of his brother made four people. And of all of those four people, he was paired up with the killer. Ganju could have killed himself at that moment, but it would mean that he would be breaking his promise to his big sister of not running away from the mission.

Rukia didn't seemed to have taken it any better. She wanted to just hide in a small corner and not be seen by anyone. But she also wanted to find Ichigo as soon a possible and that would let her be as far away from the Shiba clan as possible and she would never have to see them again. The raven haired Death God swallowed hard as she took a bold step and said, "We should hurry. Officers will be coming to investigate the crash and I'm not sure we'll be able to take all of them."

"Yeah. Let's go," Ganju agreed and took the role as leader. Rukia sighed quietly in relief and followed the younger brother and said nothing else even though she knew they were heading in the wrong direction. They spoke very little as they walked, but that was expected from them. But during that time, tension between them grew and it was something Ganju wasn't very comfortable with. He was conflicted on whether to ditch the young officer, or to talk it out. He thought about his sister and Ichigo's mother what their reaction would be if he was to ditch Rukia. He wisely chose that the latter was the smartest decision.

"Shinigami. If we talk quietly, do you think anyone will hear us?" Ganju asked, trying to keep his cool. Just talking to the girl made his blood boil.

"I-I don't think so," Rukia answered, unsure what the conversation was heading. The answer was acknowledge by Ganju.

The Shiba brother took a deep breath before asking, "Did my brother die happy?"

Rukia stopped walking. She tried to block the memory of the her mentor dying but failed to do so. She relived the memory of her sword being pierced into the lieutenant's chest and all of her emotions she felt at that time. Ganju looked back to see that the raven haired Shinigami was frozen in fear and her eyes slightly dulled, as if she was in a whole different world now. He didn't need to see anymore.

"Don't answer that. You're obviously too scared to tell me the truth. I'll just get Ichigo to tell me the full story out of you and then we'll settle the score. So until then, we're going to consider each other like allies, all right?" he asked. Rukia stared at the man with confusion, but nodded in agreement.

"Good. Now, where exactly are we?" Ganju asked, ignoring the fact that he had just forgiven the biggest sin Rukia committed.

"I-It looks like we're in the northern district. Ichigo is most likely being locked up in the Shrine of Penitence. We're going to have to reach the center to find him,"

"How about the others?"

"I can't sense them. We're going to have to go on without them," Rukia grimly stated, gradually gaining more courage to talk more comfortably to Ganju.

The Shiba clansman nodded and waited for further direction. It was clear who was the true leader in the pair, even if she did still looked like she was going to die from all the attention she was getting from him.

"R-Right. We should go. Captains will be out looking for since we're considered as traitors at this point," Rukia explained and walked away in the opposite direction they were heading preciously.

"Not so fast, Kuchiki," Rukia and Ganju turned around and saw two men behind them.

One looked as if he was competing in some kind of beauty pageant. He wore added accessories to his uniform and decorated his face with brightly colored feathers. The other was completely bald and wore red eyeshadow. Compared to his friend, he was a fashion disaster. But despite their looks, Rukia knew better than to pick fight with the infamous eleventh squad members.

"Your brother specifically ordered us to make sure we don't hurt a single hair on your noble head. But we, eleventh squad officers, don't take to orders very well. So we're going to give you till the count of three to give up and have the Forty-Six pass judgment on you soul."

"Nii-sama?" Rukia asked. She had almost forgotten about her brother in all the excitement. Now, not only did she had to explain the Kaien story, she would also have to explain to her brother what reason she had to go on such an adventure.

"Three!"

The bald man charged forward with his blade in hand. Ganju dodged with tears in his eyes while Rukia barely had enough time to react. The other man ran forward to meet with Ganju while the bald one stayed with Rukia.

"I thought you said we had until three?" Ganju cried.

"Rule number one of Soul Society: Never trust a eleventh squad officer to use correct math!"

"Ikkaku, do not disgrace our squad's name like that. You make it sound as if it is the ugliest squad in the Gotei."

"You should run, Yumichika. Looks like your prey is getting away," Ikkaku smirked. Yumichika turned to see that Ganju was running away, trying to gain distance from him and Rukia. The third seat turned to his opponent who had already released her Shikai.

"Che. If your brother wasn't the sixth squad captain, I would have probably killed you already. I'll go easy on you, but don't expect me to come at you with the intention to kill!"

The spiritual pressure the man emitted was so full of killing intent that Rukia was trembling in fear. The power was vast and showed that he could easily defeat an officer like herself. And it all faded away as Ikkaku began to dance.

"Lu-Lu-Lu-Lu-Lu-Lu-Lu-Lu-Lu-Luck! Luck! Luck! Luck! Lucky!" Rukia recalled a day from her past when Ichigo looked very tired. When she asked what was wrong, he said that he was forced to learn the "lucky dance" from someone. Back then, Rukia had no idea what her friend meant. Now that she saw it, she almost had pity for the strawberry teenager. Recovering from seeing the ridiculous dance, Rukia prepared for the fight.

"Second Dance, Hakuren!" Rukia punctured the ground using her pure white zanpaktou four times and took a battle stance with the blade above her head. Shards of ice began to appear and gather around her. By the time the third chair finished his dance, Rukia had already launched her attack.

Ikkaku attempted to dodge the attack, but was only semi-successful. The hand holding his actual zanpaktou was frozen. The snow zanpaktou wielder narrowed her eyes in annoyance, but waited for the next move to be made.

"Looks like the noble Kuchiki is actually someone to be scared of!" The bald man flexed his arm and little movement was showed. He smiled. "But not to be feared from!" One flex of the arm was all it took to break away from its frozen prison.

Rukia swallowed hard. This was something she was going to regret later.

* * *

"Are you sure we're going the right way?"

"As sure as I know my own son's age!"

"And how old is he?"

"Eleven!"

_Whack!_

"He's fifteen now. Our **daughters** are eleven. Just admit it, we're lost,"

Masaki was unfortunately paired up with her now ecstatic husband Isshin. Though, at first, she thought she had the best of luck. Isshin was here before; he must have some knowledge of the roads of Seireitei. Wrong. Isshin had the worst memory and almost no sense of direction.

"Couples arguing. What are sweet form of the love~" a drunken voice was heard from above. Sudden rose petals were falling from the sky. "And an old face to greet me. What a wonderful day this is becoming."

From a roof, a figure jumped off. He landed gracefully. His straw hat covered his face. A pink lady's kimono was being used as a cape, and despite its feminineness, it gave the performance more elegance somehow. The man stood up and revealed his face.

"Captain Shunsui Kyouraku, pleasure to see you've brought your wife, Isshin," the man smiled.

"Captain?" Masaki almost began to think they would make anyone a captain these days.

"Please to meet you, Isshin's wife," Kyouraku greeted and began chuckling. More flower petals began dropping, despite his graceful entrance was already over. The captain looked up to meet eyes with a fairly young woman.

"Hey!~ Nanao!~ You can stop throwing petals now!" The woman was wearing glasses and the most solemn face Masaki had ever seen. Isshin had begun to chuckle now.

"Um, uh, Nanao! Can you hear me? Hey~! You can stop now! My sweet, cute, cute Nanao! L-O-V-E-L-Y Lovely Nanao!" The girl apparently had enough and threw the remaining petals over the captain. Somehow, the petals carried enough weight within themselves to cause the captain to fall over.

"Kyouraku, this is great seeing you, but we really have to get going," the husband smiled and began walking forward.

"Who said you could leave?" The drunkenness disappeared from the captain's voice and turned dead serious as he appeared out of the pile of petals.

"We're not exactly in the mood for your little games. And since we're not particularly enemies, I really wouldn't want to be fighting you,"

Kyouraku hid his face with his hat and said, "How problematic! Neither of us wants to fight, however, I cannot let you pass. Will you please turn your back now?"

The parents made no move to follow the order.

The somewhat drunken captain sighed. "I supposed it can't be helped. It is your son. That's why I will give you a ten second head start,"

Masaki brighten just a bit after hearing those words. _Finally a captain that doesn't want to kill us! Or, at least wants to kill us immediately._

"After we drink! Just for a little bit. Maybe until they can find your son. Or maybe the other members of your group. The other officers must have at least encounter one of your group members. The battle will be over soon. So just drink like we did in back then, old friend." Isshin's friendly aura suddenly turned cold and told his wife to get away from him.

"A war isn't over until all of the battles are fought. Hold your sword, we're going to fight our way through you if we have to," the father said.

The man raised an eyebrow, but made no other movement.

Masaki stood back. For some odd reason, Isshin made it seem like only he could fight this battle and made sure she was excluded from the fight. She could only pray that he was making a wise decision.

* * *

"_Ichigo, huh? That's a weird name," _

"_Gin is too," _

"_Touche. Welcome to the third division. We hope to make you feel welcome. Izuru will be coming soon to show you around. Just wait here," _

"_Aren't you the captain?"_

"_I am,"_

"_Then why don't you show me around?"_

"_Such a strange kid, aren't ya? I'll stay around with ya' then. And then Izuru and I will both give you the tour," _

_Ichigo smiled lightly and waited patiently for the lieutenant. Gin sat beside him, watching the kid curiously. He answered any question the child had with high tolerance. By the time the blond lieutenant came by, they held a strong bond with each other. Gin was the first friend Ichigo had in Soul Society. It was something he wasn't going to forget._

Ichigo woke up lazily. He didn't bother to stand up or to even struggle against the restraints someone had put on him while he was asleep. The orange haired captive stared at the note that was laid in front of him.

_Ichigo. I hope you will make the correct decision. _

He didn't need to read the signature to see who was the writer. Aizen was making his move already, and here he was trapped inside a room with no way to escape. Ichigo didn't even want to think about his family and friends all attempting to rescue him.

_**'Ichigo. Can you hear me?' **_The captive would have jumped if he could. The voice of his sword seemed to have more of an edge to it, like something bad might happen.

"Yeah old man. Any suggestions?" Ichigo asked openly, quickly recovering from the scare. No one was around to hear him, he didn't need to hide his thoughts.

_'King. You know I can use your power, right?'_ The red head nodded, confused to why his Hollow was answering his question and not Zangetsu.

Thinking back, Ichigo did realize that Shiro could defeat Aizen with his powers. Hollows and Shinigami are natural enemies. But if one were to combine their abilities, they would face a being the could be powerful enough to destroy planets, or even universes. The one problem was, the Hollow was a result to the "training" Aizen had made Ichigo go through. And knowing how much planning the traitor

_'Well, the opposite works too,' _Ichigo noticed that Shiro didn't talk with the same sarcasm he usually held in his voice. It almost sounded that he was ashamed to say it.

"That's great. But, how's that going to save us?"

_**'The amount of reiatsu you will emit will be so powerful that it will overload the the restrainers. Shiro's abilities will also carry over and will give you instant regeneration, cero and other abilities,'**_

Ichigo could almost feel the discomfort the spirits held. Something wasn't being told.

_'Thing is, we're going to have to fight. Victor steals all,' _Shiro loves to fight. What was the problem?

"So, what's the problem?" The captive asked.

_'Nothing. Just get in here and start the fight,' _Shiro ordered. The Hollow sounded nervous, something Ichigo never heard from him. But Ichigo knew better than to keep bothering him for answers. The teenager entered his inner world after closing his eyes.

The blue city surrounded him and the Hollow who had his back to him. Zangetsu was no where in sight. Shiro seemed tense.

"Shiro?" Ichigo asked, wondering what was making him so twitchy. It was giving him the creeps. Something that could scare his Hollow obviously meant it was bad.

"It's nothing. Now come on. This is going to be like your bankai training. Defeat me, and you'll get complete access to my powers. Lose and, well, let's not think about that," the albino smiled insanely. The Hollow was getting back into his battle crazy mood, but the lieutenant couldn't shake off the feeling that something will go wrong if they continue the fight.

* * *

This was a fun chapter to write. But this is just going to be a warning. The next chapter will involve a Isshin vs. Kyouraku fight. Does anyone want a spoiler free fight? (Up to the chapter 405 to 406) Tell me in a review, or I might just have a poll.

See-ya on the next chapter! And reviews are always welcomed! (You guys all just rock!)


	9. Shocking Revelation

Run. Attack. Run. Dodge. Attack. Dodge. Masaki couldn't bring herself to say that her husband, the man who would willingly make himself a fool in public, was a better fighter than she was. Isshin was much quicker than what she would have guessed. It was almost impossible for her to keep up with all of the attacks. She was witnessing the captain of the squad eight being pushed to his heels.

"Getsuga Tensho!" he husband yelled and released a energy wave powerful enough to destroy the arch behind the captain. But even then, the captain refused to bring out his sword and fight seriously.

"You know, even though a battle is happening right in front of you, you shouldn't leave yourself wide open for an attack from behind. Someone else could be around and attack you from behind," a calm voice commented.

The mother turned around, grabbing hold onto her charm and prepared to attack.

"You can relax. My captain wouldn't like that I have taken up the opportunity to fight you and possibly kill you. He would probably reprimanded me for even thinking the thought of killing someone, especially a woman," the young girl said, standing by her calmly. She made no move to reach for any type of weapon.

Masaki relaxed slightly but sill had a strong hold on her charm. She watched as the once serious young girl turned into a calm, peace-loving lieutenant.

"You are Ichigo's mother, am I correct?" Nanao asked. Masaki nodded, unsure how they gotten on that topic.

"He talked a lot about you. Especially when he was younger. Sometimes I had to wonder if you were actually real. He kept going on about how you were the best mother in the world and that you always tried to keep a smile and would do superhuman tasks like save him from beastly creatures." the glasses wearing lieutenant smiled, "He was quite the storyteller at his age."

Masaki was surprised that her son thought so highly of her. While he was in the World of the Living, he wasn't exactly like the son she had when he was nine. He was more mature and didn't seem to relax for very long. He was also very quiet talking about his past. So to hear that he was so comfortable talking about his family got Masaki thinking about her son's past in Soul Society.

In the background, the swords were suddenly clashing. Apparently Shunsui finally brought his dual swords. Finally when Isshin couldn't take the captain's dodging any longer, he let out another Getsuga Tensho. Kyoraku dodged it easily with a Flash Step and landed right behind the ex-Shinigami.

"Hmm? Isshin? Why are you so serious? It isn't good to show your wild side to your beautiful wife. She might get scared of you," the captain asked. Both of his blades were already in Shikai, but it was apparent that he didn't want to kill the intruder.

The ex-captain stayed still and saw that his wife was very close to the lieutenant of the eighth squad.

"Is she ready?" Isshin asked.

"My Nanao is always ready," Shunsui smiled and made a quick movement with his hand.

Nanao caught the slight movement and took hold of the mother's wrist and then Flash Stepped away. Masaki gasped at the sudden kidnapping and struggled against the movement. But despite the struggle, they Nanao managed to escape the battle scene exactly on schedule.

"Really Isshin. You should really trust your wife a bit more. She doesn't look the type to get hurt that easily. Especially with that little charm with her," Kyoraku sheathed his sword as he spoke. Isshin looked towards the direction his wife was taken to.

"I didn't do it to protect her physically. I did it to protect her mental state. There is no way that she would accept what had happen to Ichigo so calmly," the father stated. He closed his eyes and mouthed a silent prayer for her safety.

"And what exactly happened to your son?"

"Haven't you noticed?" Isshin asked, confused that the one of the wisest captains wasn't aware of the state his son was in.

Kyoraku shook his head, signifying that he had no clue what the man was talking about.

"What has happened to Ichigo was the same thing that had happened to your previous lieutenant, Lisa," Isshin answered. The captain widen his eyes and mentally smacked himself for not noticing earlier.

"And do you know who exactly did it?"

"Who else? Sosuke Aizen," Isshin stated and walked away from the captain. Kyoraku frowned and hid his face within his straw hat's shadow.

"Well, I'm afraid you're a little late. Word has gotten out and around that the captain of the Fifth Squad had already died. Unless, you think otherwise,"

"Anyone who can hide a person's hollowfication for this long wouldn't go down that easily," Isshin said, walking passed the straw hat captain.

"He's not in his cell anymore. He's probably somewhere around the city, making havoc. Probably already have a couple of captains after him," Shunsui stated

"I know that. He's my son, isn't he?"

"Like father, like son it seems. See you around, old friend," The eighth squad captain turned his back as the father went out to find his so-called criminal of a son.

-(Divider)-

Dead end. Dead end. Dead end. Why did Seiretei have of so many dead ends! It was hard enough to get into this place, so why would the roads become dead ends? Doesn't anyone get lost in this maze? To make matters worse, Ganju could have swore that he had dropped the only sticks of dynamite he had somewhere along the run. It didn't make it any better that a high level Shinigami was chasing him too.

_'Maybe I lost him at that last turn,'_ Ganju though and turned his head around.

"The way you run is ugly," the fashionable Death God criticized and ran at a faster pace. Ganju turned his head back and saw that he had landed in a dead end. He thought quickly and remembered a chant from a scroll he read.

"Turn into sand, Seeba!" His moved his hand in a circular motion and slammed his hand onto the wall, turning a portion of the wall into sand. He quickly jumped through the newly formed hole and found himself in another problem. There was no more ground to walk on ahead of him.

"Too, Too, Too dangerous! If I fall down that pit, I'll die for sure!"

"It used to be an execution place. We used to put Hollows into that pit and let criminals fight against them while we watched from the stages on both sides," Yumichika informed, startling the youngest Shiba brother slightly. The fifth seat stood casually behind him, watching to see the next move be played.

"Hmp, Shinigami hobbies are so cruel," Ganju noted, smirking a bit.

"It's nothing compared to watching your face throughout this battle. Of course, that kind of cruel punishment has been abolished a long time ago," the eleventh squad officer said.

"... I think, you've run and talk enough. It's time," Yumichika brought out his zanpaktou, "I'll let you choose. Would you rather I kill you in beautiful way or would you like to jump into that ugly pit and die pitifully? And please look the this way and show me your expression. I want to see how ugly you can get. Because, it doesn't matter what your choose, you're going to die either way."

The Shiba Clansman didn't answer right away. The action apparently angered his soon-to-be killer.

"I can't stand it when people are in a life and death situation and they don't know what to do," the feathery Shinigami stated. While he was talking, Ganju reached out for a small object.

"When I said your hobbies were cruel, this is exactly what I meant," Ganju smiled and created distance between the two of them by setting off a small fire cracker. They jumped away and gave Ganju a perfect chance to bring out his blade to fight.

The moment Yumichika saw that Ganju was ready to fight seriously and not run away again, he came charging at full strength. At the first swing, Ganju dodged. By the time the second swing came, he already had a counter attack planned. He didn't expect the third swing to come so quickly and that led to many other swings causing him to be shallowly cut on his head and leaving several scratches on the rest of his body.

From a distance, he could hear a building collapsing from an explosion. At first, he thought that Rukia had lost and her opponent was crushing her under the building. But he remembered the resolve she had to save Ichigo and knew that she wouldn't have lost so easily. Even if her opponent was stronger than the one he was facing now. He began to focus, trying to sense a bit of her spiritual energy to reassure him he was right.

"Sound like it's getting pretty lively over there. It looks like we're going to have to finish it right here. My partner never likes it when he has to wait for me to finish," Yumichika observed and Ganju grimly agreed.

"Don't sound so carefree. Looks like I'm going to have lead you along to your death. Won't you try and beat me and my Fuji Kujaku?"

Ganju smiled as he reached for something behind him once more. The fifth seat watched carefully as he pulled out another object, but it was so small he could identify it.

"Just stop now. Your friend already lost, don't you know that? Ikkaku is one of our best fighters in our squad, which also makes him the one of the best of the whole Gotei Thirteen. Rukia Kuchiki, despite having that beautiful name, isn't even a seater officer. There's just no chance that she won that fight,"

What the Shiba clansman pulled out was a red smoke bomb. He smiled.

"You Shinigami better have some classes in detecting spiritual pressure or something. Because even I can tell that the battle is already over, and your Shinigami friend lost!" Yumichika widen his eyes in disbelief. He was stunned for the moment. Ganju took the opportunity and lit the firecracker on fire at the fuse. He threw the bomb onto the fashionable Yumichika and created more room between him. He took the opportunity to create a trap as the smoke began to disappear.

_'Keep stalling. He still underestimates me,' _Ganju thought. The eleven squad officer walked forward and tried to stop Ganju from what he thought was trying to cast one of his strange earth spells. It was when he was almost pushed off the ledge again did the tables turn.

"What a shame. I would think if one was born ugly, he should at least die beautifully," the fifth seat said, overlooking the so-called ugly man.

"I guess that we were taught different things. Because what I was taught that who ever survives was the finest of them all!" The fireworks apprentice began his trap by leading his opponent to fall into the pit by unleashing another Seeba attack. As expected he caught onto the ledge. Ganju used Yumichika's head to climb back onto land.

"Why you! Don't you dare touch me!" The flamboyant officer was ignored as the Shiba youngest brother unleashed his ultimate attack.

"Shiba Style Rock Wave Secret Move!" Ganju shouted and had the ground become under a certain area of cement become sand, successfully moving that area of ground Yumichika was standing on into the pit. The officer moved out of harm's way and appeared in the sky.

"You fool. You think that attack will finish me? Where are you?"

"Hey Shinigami! Take this!" Ganju threw a bomb at him. He smirked and ran away, only fantasizing what was to be left of his opponent. It wasn't particularly strong, so it wouldn't kill him. But if it would make that man's face as ugly as a boar and that alone made this whole entire battle a huge success.

-(Divider)-

"Kuchiki, where are you? You wouldn't want to keep your brother waiting," Ikkaku sang, almost too happily. Rukia was currently hiding in the shadows of a dead end trying to silence her hard breathing. She knew she couldn't face him head on and expect to live. It was a wonder that Ichigo managed to live through all the sparring matches he had with the bald third seat.

The sound of footsteps became louder as she wasted time remembering past memories of her lieutenant. The raven haired Shinigami had to think of some kind of plan quickly. She scanned her surroundings, desperately hoping something will spark some kind of inspiration in her mind. When her eyes landed on what seemed to be her only hope, she prayed that her decision wouldn't come and haunt her later.

She grabbed the few sticks of dynamite that must have been left by Ganju seeing as he was one of the only people to leave the destructive bombs lying around so carelessly. The footsteps suddenly stopped. Rukia hid the dynamite within her sleeve and prayed that they won't fall out while she tried to execute her plan.

"Found ya'" The third seat said. He held his sheathed zanpaktou over his shoulder and wore a smug grin on his face. Rukia held her breath from feeling the killing intent of his reiatsu. She had to get out of the corner she was trapped in. After that, she had to hope that Ganju also left some kind of match to use.

"Che. You look like a helpless little kid. Where was that spunk you had back there? Weren't you Ichigo's student too? Don't tell me that this was all he taught you," Ikkaku comment. Rukia didn't say anything and tried to look for an opening to escape.

"I think we should just end this quickly. Yumichika probably is already finish with the other one. And he really hates waiting for me," the bald man said, "Grow! Hozuikmaru!" Ikkaku slammed the hilt of his sword to its sheath. The action caused the blade to become a spear. At the end opposite of the blade was a red feathery tail. The petite Death God remembered that Ichigo had told her that Ikkaku was not someone to underestimate.

_'A spear may be slower to attack with, but with Ikkaku, that's far from the truth. You always have to be prepared for an attack you won't see,'_

Just when the bald third seat was about to attack, Rukia saw an opening to escape. She dashed to the right of the man under his arm and ran as fast as she could. There had to be a match somewhere around here. Why did her zanpaktou had to be a ice-type and not a fire-type!

But before she could even make five feet away from the dead end, Ikkaku had already caught up with her using Flash Step. He appeared front of her to show that she couldn't outrun him. Rukia looked up and saw that Ikkaku's head shinned in the sunlight and that gave her a brilliant idea. The noble adoptive silently thanked Ichigo silently for teaching her a few tricks from the World of the Living.

"You're really lucky that you have your brother's protection. But I don't think he'll mind if I were to 'accidentally' stab you with my blade. As long as you're still living, I think I will get away from it," Rukia didn't say anything. Her gaze was steadily focused on the blade of the spear and its position from the sun. He lifted the weapon above his head and the raven haired Shinigami brought out the dynamite secretly.

"Have any last regrets, Kuchiki?" Ikkaku asked, his spear sill above his head. The sun's rays were in the perfect position and hit the blade. A chain reaction started and the reflected sunlight hit the fuse of the dynamite and lit it on fire. When smoke began to appear, the noble took saw it as a word of caution to run away.

_'As long as you have something that can reflect the sun's rays on to a specific point, you can light anything on fire. It's a simple trick my dad taught me,'_ Ichigo's words echoed in her mind. She felt proud that she had listened to what he had to say that day.

Ikkaku had already widen his eyes and tried to escape the bombs' range. But Rukia refused the action and toss the sticks towards him. A second later, they blew up. The explosion was large enough to cause a nearby building to fall down. Rukia could only hope that Ganju had as good of luck she did and that Ikkaku did not die from a building falling upon him.

In the background she heard fireworks being fired. The only person dumb enough to cause such an explosion in the open was the Shiba clansman. She smiled and ran to reach her ally, but was stopped by an unexpected visitor.

He grabbed her wrists without a second of hesitation and Flash Stepped masterfully out of the scene. Rukia didn't yell. All she could do was stare at her kidnapper's unusual hair. She was suddenly put on her kidnapper's back. And neither of them said a word until they landed inside a dark warehouse.

"Been a while, hasn't it, Rukia?" the voice seemed to be watered down.

"Ichigo..." The noble could only say her friend's name as she watch him reach for the mask that was on his face. It was a white mask with red stripes running down its left side. In his hand was a Hollow's mask.

* * *

Has anyone seen the most recent Bleach chapter? 409? It's awesome.


	10. Returning Evil

"Rukia, I need you to stay quiet. Someone is going to hear us in here if we keep talking like this. Just stay here and wait a little bit more. Then I'll put up the barrier and then you can ask all of your questions," Ichigo ordered and watched the door they had just entered.

Rukia acknowledged the orders of her friend with a simple nod and watched nervously as the mask in Ichigo's hand disappear into black reiatsu and then fade away. The worry only increased in the female officer as she felt a strong spiritual pressure coming closer towards them. The door opened slowly and revealed an old face.

"Hey! Strawberry! Are you in here yet? Where are you?" Renji called out as he closed the door behind him.

"Renji!" Rukia asked, appearing from their hiding place behind a few boxes. The red head stared in shock at the now named dangerous ryoka.

Ichigo suddenly pushed the surprised officer back behind the boxes and stood up. He signaled her to remain quiet for now. Renji remained in his shocked state as he saw the switch from Rukia to Ichigo.

The amber eyes of his old friend reveled no emotion and frightened the sixth division lieutenant. For a second, Renji could have swore that they flashed from his normal amber eyes to golden Hollow eyes.

"How many clouds were in the sky when I first met you?" The question was so sudden that the sixth division lieutenant didn't answer immediately. Ichigo raised his spiritual pressure higher as the seconds Renji were wasting by not answering. The raven haired Shinigami watched as her old friend tried to shake off the evil feel of Ichigo's reiatsu and get his voice to work.

"F-five," he answered and fell to the ground as the carrot top relaxed and took a deep breath. Another second hesistation and the outcome would most likely revolve in a death of another innocent Death God.

"Renji!" Rukia yelled in concern as she ran to help her fallen friend. The red head's breaths were quick and short, by he would survive the heart attack the thirteenth division lieutenant had just caused him.

Ichigo allowed Rukia to walk over to care for Renji as he began a chant that was only audible to himself. He gently touched the ground and force his normal spiritual energy to surround Rukia and Renji in a circle. The task seemed pointless to the both of them as nothing around them seemed to have changed visually. The air was a little more thicker and thus harder to breath, but they would live through it. When he finished he sat down closer to his friends and within the circle of reiatsu he created.

As soon as he sat down, however, he was slugged in the face by the now fuming Renji.

"What the heck was that for? You scared me half to death!" the red head scolded, his face red with anger.

Ichigo scowled as he felt his friend's fist meet with his face. "Well sorry! I thought you were stronger that that, Pineapple!" he retorted.

"Weak? I'm not weak! You dumb Strawberry!"

"Why were you shaking in fear when I saw you! Or is that how you greet all of your enemies?"

"I can beat you in a match easily!"

The two of them began arguing, like old times. But Rukia couldn't help but notice that Ichigo was doing a lousy job of hiding what he truly felt. The reiatsu between the two friends rose as they argued and noticed it was beginning to suffocate the female Death God.

"So, why did you bring us here?" Renji asked, calming down from the argument. Both Renji and Rukia felt a great deal of pressure being lifted from their shoulders as Ichigo relaxed a bit more. The captive apologized for being so tensed at the moment and looked at both of his friends in the eyes.

"Aizen is going to be a traitor to Soul Society," Ichigo stated and prepared himself for the reaction he would receive.

No one said anything for a while. The shock left them speechless. Renji was the first to recover from the stunning news.

"How in the world did you get that idea! Captain Aizen is probably the most harmless of all of the captains in the Gotei! There's no way that-"

"He's the reason why I have a Hollow feeling in my spiritual pressure," Renji was silent at that remark. Rukia could only mutter her friend's name in pity and felt stupid that she didn't notice the subtle feel of Hollow before.

"There's a barrier around us. It's going to keep us invisible from officers that might investigate this warehouse. But we're going to have to keep quiet if anyone does come. It isn't perfect, but it'll do," Ichigo explained, trying to change the subject from his strange reiatsu.

"Where did you learn this Kido?" Rukia asked. She had never learned this spell from the academy and Ichigo wasn't skilled enough in the practice to be in the advanced class, even with his amazing growth rate.

"Captain Aizen," The lieutenant answered.

"Then why are you accusing him of being traitor if he taught you this spell?" Renji asked.

"Just in case we get caught,"

Ichigo was becoming less and less detailed with his answers. He was baiting them into asking the bigger question by trying to tease at their curiosity.

"We?" Rukia asked.

"Gin, Tousen, Aizen and myself. Look I don't have time to explain much. We're going to have to leave before someone gets really hurt. We only have a few hours before Hinamori gets caught in all of this too and-"

"How do you know this Ichigo?" The barrier within Ichigo was finally broken after so many years. Ichigo exhaled deeply and felt immediate relief when he was released from the spell. He mentally thanked Rukia for asking the question he longly wanted to answer for six years.

"Ichigo?"

"Rukia, who did you bring with you?" the orange haired captive asked, not wasting time to answer other questions they might have. Rukia flinched slightly from the tone of urgency from her friend's voice.

"Your mother, father, Yoruichi, and Ganju," the petite Shinigami answered. The thirteen squad lieutenant sighed in relief as he heard the news. Yoruichi would make sure everyone was safe. This gave the three of them much more time than he expected.

"How about Aizen? Is he dead and was his body hung on the wall?" Renji nodded grimly. He could still remember Hinamori screaming at the sight of her captain stabbed in many places. Ichigo growled in disdain.

The lieutenant tried to remember what the fifth squad captain had said to him four years ago. It he was going according to his master plans, then they would have three days before they should make he could make his move and destroy those plans. But with Gin moving around openly and freely, those days of free time could vary from the scheduled three days to tomorrow. And then there is also-

"Ichigo!" Renji called out, bringing the Kurosaki back to reality. He could think about those things later. As of now, he needed to answer the questions his friends had.

"What happened to you? How do you know all of this? What do you mean 'before Hinamori gets caught in all of this'?" Renji asked. Rukia's worried expression only confirmed that he needed to explain his history with the soon-to-be traitors before anything else happens.

"Back before any of this happened, I was an officer for the Third Division. I was only eleven, but I could still defeat most unseated officers and sometimes Izuru if I was lucky. Sometimes Aizen would visit and then he could really see what I could do,"

**/Flash Back\\**

"Ichigo! Could you come over here for a second?" Gin called. The young boy turned around to see his captain beckoning for him with another captain standing beside him. He asked for permission to leave from his opponent and ran over to the silver haired man and his visitor.

"So you're Ichigo Kurosaki?" the man waited for a nod, "Gin talked about you a lot about you during our little meetings. Is it true that you can beat his lieutenant?" the brown haired man asked with curiosity. It was the fifth squad captain. Ichigo had seen him a lot during training sessions and when his captain was in his office. Aizen would have kept a watchful eye on all the fighters during their matches, as if he was assessing them on their fighting style.

The eleven year old nodded proudly. It wasn't an easy win, even though Kira didn't resort to using his Shikai. But the thought of him becoming stronger than the lieutenant of his division despite being so young made him feel a great sense of pride. Gin watched the conversation of the two carefully but didn't add anything on.

"And you're only eleven? That means that with a few years of experience, you could be a very strong captain. Maybe even become stronger than Captain Ichimaru over there," Aizen joked.

"Don't give him any ideas, Captain Aizen. I wouldn't want to hand my title to some runt like him," Gin laughed and ruffled Ichigo's orange hair in a brotherly manner.

"What do you think Ichigo? Do you think that you can beat Captain Ichimaru in a match?" The fifth squad captain asked.

"Not yet. He's a lot stronger than I am," the red head answered honestly.

"That's probably true. But it would be some fun to see you fight one-on-one with a captain. Perhaps you would even fancy a fight with myself. I'm no fighter like Kenpachi, but I didn't gain this title by winning a contest either," Aizen smiled.

"Sure. I was starting to get bored with just fighting the unseated officers anyway," the child accepted calmly.

"Unseated?"

"Gin doesn't want me to get trampled over by the older and taller officers. But the only shorter officers are the unseated officers. It's only recently did I persuade Lieutenant Izuru to have a match with me but that was only with Gin's supervision," Ichigo explained.

"Well that means I'm going to have make sure I don't go too easy on you either. Seems like this battle will be quite the experience for you. What about tonight then? Meet me at the fifth division barracks at about eight with Captain Ichimaru. Then we'll see how skillful you really are," Aizen smiled and left the training grounds.

Suddenly the pressure of not embarrassing himself in front of two captains disappeared. Ichigo sat down in exhaustion from keeping his monstrous reiatsu under control for the whole entire conversation. The thought of a battle with a captain almost made him release his spiritual pressure from under his control and have all of the newly graduates from the academy have their first trip to fourth division.

"You did well in keeping it under control for that long. Before you know it, you might even become a lieutenant yourself and maybe a captain like Captain Aizen said," Gin commented, crouching down to be eye level with the small third seat. The young boy smiled and looked in the direction the captain left.

"Hey, Gin?"

The Third Division Captain slightly turned his head slightly at the sound of his name but wasn't completely focus on his third seat. His focus was still on the weakening reiatsu of the fifth squad captain.

"Do you really think I'm a runt?" Aizen was officially out of earshot by that point.

The smile on the fox faced captain widen and focused all of his attention on young, but powerful officer.

"Yup. Now get on training. That fight with Captain Aizen ain't going to be easy," he ordered and walked back to his room. Ichigo stared at his captain in confusion. Despite the wide grin on his, the eleven year old child could still tell that something was upsetting him.

The day passed by quickly as word passed on that Ichigo Kurosaki was going have a battle with Captain Aizen. During what was supposed to be Ichigo's training session, girls began to appear and watch him. The girls were normal visitors to the third squad due to the young boy's cute looks and his routine naps under persimmons trees. The stares and awing began to creep him out and the third seat didn't get much from his training session.

"Ichi-chan! Are ya' ready? Captain Aizen isn't fond of people who are late!~" Captain Ichimaru asked in a sing-song voice.

"Gin, I told you not to call me that!" Ichigo appeared from his room looking very well rested. The taller Shinigami laughed and petted the younger prodigy on the head.

They made their way out of their squad's barracks and walked the way to the fifth squad. Night began to settle in and the moon rose above their heads in its full shape. But as they walked, Ichigo began to notice a very dramatic change in setting.

"Uh, Gin? This isn't the way to the fifth squad. This is the way to the Rukongai," Ichigo noticed. When his companion didn't answer, he looked around to see him all alone. It was his captain's horrible habit of leaving him with any notice. He sighed and tried to find his way back into the city. He felt stupid for not noticing the change of scenery eariler.

A noise came from behind him. It was swift and hid in the shadows. Its reiatsu screamed Hollow, but a faint sense of a Death God was also in there. The mix was unusual, but it was most likely from a battle a Hollow had just won.

Ichigo grabbed Zangetsu and prepared for battle. He mentally scolded himself for not noticing his captain leaving earlier.

_'He's probably already at Fifth Division without me,"_ Ichigo thought to himself and held himself in a basic fighting stance. A twig snapped in the north. Then from the west, a creature came lunging.

_'Shunpo?" _

Ichigo flashed step away and tried to reach higher ground. But by the second he landed, the monster had already disappeared.

"What was that?" the young boy asked himself. He looked around to see if it had appeared again. No sounds were heard.

_'I better find the way back to Soul Society soon. Or else I might not be able to find the path by morning,'_ Ichigo moved by jumping branches, convinced that whatever was after him was afraid of heights.

"Hey, kid. You know, it's not safe to be traveling at night. Some strange monsters might come and eat you." Ahead of him was another figure with bright blue hair. He didn't wear anything Ichigo had seen before. He had a white hakama and a white jacket. Since he was leaning on a tree, Ichigo couldn't see anymore than his left side.

"I'll be okay. I'm just looking for the way home," the young boy replied and moved ahead.

"That'll be fine, but you see, I have orders to kill any orange haired kids I spot," Ichigo looked behind him and saw the hole on the man's stomach. On the right of it was a black tattoo of the number six. On his face was a remaining Hollow mask. He was something Ichigo had never seen before. But before he had any time to react, a cero was blasted in front of him. The third division officer took direct damage from the attack and fell down to the ground.

"Wasn't even worth the effort," the blue haired man frowned and disappeared.

Ichigo was fading away. He could feel his spiritual energy leaving him and his mind fogging up. Gin had told him when souls die here, they would be born again in the World of the Living with no memory of their previous life in Soul Society or their life before they went to Soul Society. The thought that he could be reunited with his mother made him think that all the bad things his captain had said previously about death were wrong. He closed his eyes and hoped that luck was on his side. But before he fell into darkness, he heard a familiar voice.

"Don't ya die on me now, Ichigo. Captain Aizen said he can't have ya' dead yet. You might feel a little moody after this, but at least ya still be alive,"

**/End Flashback\\**

"The voice turned out to be Gin. He did something to me, and the next thing I remember was that I had a mask on my face. Aizen taught me how to use my Hollow powers, and in return, I'll help him with his plans to take over Soul Society. Back then, what he said made sense to me. A world without fighting or death, where only a person could be enough to change the world, it was like a blissful dream. It didn't matter how many I killed, that goal of a universe without wars seemed like every person's wish.

"But after a while, people were starting to suspect Gin of being some kind of evil mastermind. So he transferred me out of his division to make sure they don't think that we were partners in crime. After time, Aizen saw that I had become weaker since leaving Third Division. The truth was, after becoming closer to you guys, I really didn't want to kill anymore and thus my instinct dulled. He saw that and ordered me to kill Rukia. I refused and he threatened to kill me. Gin came to my side and said that he should give me some time to think about my answer. Aizen gave me half a year. During that time, we got even closer, and I began to see that Aizen's goal for a new world wasn't the way the world should be. But before I had time to act, we were sent to the real world together. I was captured and now Aizen might actually have his way," Ichigo finished grimly.

Renji and Rukia sat down and let all of the information sink in. It was certainly a lot to swallow. A few minuets later, Renji lifted his hand and slapped his friend again.

"You idiot. And you couldn't have told us this earlier? We could have helped you know!"

"Why didn't you tell Captain Ukitake? He would have helped you also! Any of use would!" Rukia scolded, not caring that her friend had once been a murderous villain.

"I couldn't. To make sure that I didn't say anything I wasn't supposed to and escape his hold on me, Aizen put some kind of binding on me before I had my six months to think about my answer. He didn't want erase my memory if I did decide to change my mind. So unless someone had asked me directly on how I knew this kind of stuff, I wasn't allowed to say anything I had learned from before. I could just say bits and pieces of his plans, like going Hueco Mundo, but not the reason why he's going there. To a normal person, it could sound like I was just making a harmless joke," Ichigo answered. The captive lieutenant felt relieved that his friends still held their faith in him and didn't reject him like he had feared. He could feel Zangetsu smiling and telling Ichigo that he was wrong to presume that his friends wouldn't accept him. Though the emptiness of the second voice brought him out his relief.

"Who was the guy who took you out so easily?" asked Renji.

"His name is Grimmjow. He's an Arrancar; a Hollow and Shinigami hybrid. He has all the powers of the Hollow with the intelligence of a normal Shinigami and a zanpaktou too. Aizen has a whole army of them and if we don't stop him soon, we're going to be facing them in the Winter War." Ichigo replied.

The group was silent for a moment. The amount of planning the fifth squad captain had to do in order for all of this to work must have been massive. There was no way he would go down easily. When the Ichigo saw that his friends were still ready to take on the traitor captain despite all odds, he explained the plan he had in mind.

"We can't mess this up, no matter what happens. Even if something happens to get in your way, try to stay on schedule as best as you can. If you can't try to make some kind of signal or something for us to see. No one in Seiretei is going to know about this, so they will probably be after you guys too when they see you helping the number one criminal on the loose," Ichigo joked. Renji and Rukia smiled. Their old friend was finally back to his old self.

Suddenly his amber eyes widen and he lunged himself between them with his hand grabbing Zangetsu's hilt. The barrier was suddenly broken. A glasses wearing man smiled. Renji could only stare in shock at the unwelcome visitor.

"Kurosaki Ichigo. It has been a long time since we last met. Tell me, have you changed your mind of switching sides yet?"

Captain Aizen was alive once more.

* * *

"Let go of me! I'm going to find my 'faithful' husband and show him not to ever underestimate me!" Masaki ordered. She didn't like the fact that she was being kidnapped and had no doubt in her mind that her husband had planned this all somehow seeing how calmly he reacted to her capture.

"I'm very sorry about this, but it's truly is safer if you get away from all of the fighting. Just stay quiet until we get to the safe house and then you can complain all you want," Nanao reasoned and continued to drag the caramel haired woman towards a small shed. It surprised her how violent a caring mother like herself could be.

For the first ten minutes in the safe house, Masaki would not sit still and stay calm. Her attitude towards her kidnapping reminded the eighth division lieutenant of the younger Ichigo and his short temper.

"Look, Masaki was it? Your husband probably has very good reasons as to why he had you get away from all of the battles. That battle with my captain was probably the easiest one he'll go have, and that's saying something. He can't protect you while trying to protect himself at the same time. Not all of them go by a rulebook," the young girl said.

"I don't need any protection from a goat face like him, and he knows that. I'm not sure that you know this, but between us, I'm the smarter of the couple. There is no way that he would be able to save our son and make through alive," Masaki said, pacing around the room frustrate at her husband.

Luckily the walls were soundproof. The "safe house" was specially chosen by the drunken captain since the only reason why someone would come in there would be a fourth division officer coming to replenish their cleaning supplies.

But sooner of later, Nanao would have to leave and tend to her Division since her captain was such a lazy man. Hopefully by then, everything will go back to normal and orderly again. And all of this could be a joke in the future to tell.

_Knock Knock. _The women were startled by the sudden noise at the door. Nanao retrieved her book and stood in front of the door. She motioned Masaki to hid behind a box, but she refused to mover from her spot behind the lieutenant.

The visitor didn't wait for someone to answer. He opened the door quietly and reveled his perpetual grin and closed eyes.

"Hello, Lieutenant Ise. It's nice to see you here. I see that you have a guest too,"

"Captain Ichimaru," Nanao bowed in respect, "Why have you come here?"

"My question to you is why you have come here. I'm only here to gather some supplies for the Fourth division captain," Gin countered and gently pushed the glasses wearing woman away. The third division captain smiled wider as he saw the resemblance between the woman and the wanted captive.

"So who do we have here? Isn't this Ichigo's mother?"

"Yes. My captain had planned that we should capture one of Ichigo's family members to lure him into a trap. And then we can finally capture him and settle this case once and for all," explained Nanao, desperately hoping he wouldn't want more details.

Ichimaru eyed the mother carefully.

"That's so? Well, that seems kind of ungentlemanly like of the Eight Division captain. Taking a beautiful lady like herself to lure such young child to his horrible death sentence. It almost seems like yer making up this story," Gin smiled.

Nanao took a deep breath as he got closer. She knew she was a bad liar. And for Gin, the child genius of his time, to come and investigate this place was just her luck. She could only hope that he would leave them alone soon.

"My, my, my, Ise-chan, you look as if you're a sinner in church. You didn't lie, did you?" Gin reached out to grabbed the bookworm's shoulder. The hand was reflected by Masaki.

"I have no idea who you are, but I do know that you're making her nervous. And that itself isn't very gentlemanly like, is it?" Masaki said, looking fierce like her son. Her eyes burned with determination.

"Like mother, like son, I guess you could call it," Gin smiled and took the mother's wrist and ran away out the door.

"Masaki!" Nanao called out, racing to reach the Third Division captain.

Masaki was being kidnapped the second time today. Isshin is definitely going to be in trouble when they all get out of this mess.

* * *

Don't expect an update next week. I'm going camping and I probably won't have enough time to post the next chapter.

But on to a more cheerful note, I'm really happy on all of the reviews I've been getting. You all rock. I hope that this chapter was okay. It was a pain to edit and keep everyone in character.

And if anyone saw the latest chapter of Bleach...

-**Spoilers**-

Tensa Zangetsu is really angry about the change of scenery.

You would expect for someone who has been living in a blue skyscraper world all their life would like to see a little more greenery or something.

And Hollow Ichigo is actually using a mask! And he has long hair like Aizen! Though it looks like Hollow Ichigo is going to stay a villian.


	11. Downfalls of Emotions

"Kurosaki Ichigo. It has been a long time since we last met. Tell me, have you changed your mind of switching sides yet?" The captain smiled as he saw the teenager reach out for his zanpaktou with his left hand. The two behind him were repeating the action, but were more hesitant to do so.

"Don't bother," Ichigo ordered without looking back, "Just get out of here as fast as you can. He just wants to talk to me, for now."

"There's no way we're going to let some traitor captain sit around and talk to you! If we kill him now, then we can settle all of this quicker!" Renji argued and began to say his Shikai release.

"No! Just leave now! Get out of here before you get hurt!" the orange haired traitor yelled, turning his back for a minute to face his friends. Rukia watched as the glasses wearing captain brought out his zanpaktou. He held it in the air for a second and suddenly charged forward towards her friend. The petite shinigami brought herself in front of Ichigo in his surprised and guarded the attack for him. The traitor captain jumped back as the her falsely accused lieutenant began to get more serious and finally released his sword from its wrappings.

Renji attacked with his now released Zabimaru. The blade stretched forward and attempted to slash the man in front the them. Aizen dodged to the left swiftly and without missing a beat, ran after Rukia. Her sword was soon released into its beautiful, pure white form and a blast of ice was thrown towards him. Aizen tried his best to defend from the ice attack, but was still mildly injured in a few places injured and was stunned for a few seconds.

Ichigo rushed forward to attack while the soon-to-be traitor was still recovering from the attack, hoping to gain another hit on him. The man, unfortunately, saw through the attack quickly brought his sword to meet with Ichigo's blade. Sparks flew from the iron blades' contacts and he pushed the young adult away with a little more strength. The red had smiled and got back into his fighting stance.

"You're better than I had imagined," Ichigo commented. Aizen didn't add any kind comment to the conversation and disappeared in a single Flash Step. He suddenly appeared right behind the orange haired teenager and prepared to land a fatal strike.

"Carriage of Thunder. Bridge of a spinning wheel. With light, divide this into six!" Rukia chanted as six bars of light appeared and attached themselves to Aizen's waist leaving the fifth division squad captain unable to move. Renji charged forward and attacked with full strength. Aizen began to struggling against the binding with his spiritual pressure and successfully released himself before the red head had a chance to attack him. The reiatsu released by the fifth division captain had made a shockwave causing everyone else to take a half step back and Renji to be blown away from the captain.

Ichigo was the first to recover from the blast of reiatsu and released a small Getsuga Tensho at the man. The brunette captain, who was recovering from releasing so much reiatsu at once, didn't see the attack quickly enough and took the attack directly.

"Alright, Ichigo!" Renji cheered as he relaxed a little after feeling the fifth division captain's reiatsu begin to fade away a little. The captain was thrown across the warehouse and had landed harshly into a wall. The impact wasn't strong enough to cause a hole in the wall, but managed to create rubble to surround him. Renji knew from first hand experience that Ichigo's Getsuga Tensho had the potential to kill anyone if hit at the right position.

The trio walked closer to the captain to examine the damage made by Ichigo to Aizen. The man was bleeding from the scar Ichigo had created and it flowed everywhere around him. His glasses were broken and his face made him look as if he wasn't going to betray Soul Society after all. But Rukia and Renji knew the truth and refuse to give in to the captain's deception.

It was fact that whether they kill him now, or leave him here, there was no mistake that he was going to die. He had already lost a lot of blood and would most likely die from the blood lost if left alone. Renji brought up his sword and prepared to bring the final swing of his sword against the once presumed dead man.

"Sayonara, traitor," Renji said and lowered his sword for the kill. Rukia watched intently at the now sealed blade her old friend held. He said the words with no grief and was resolutely prepared to kill the bleeding man. But the blade never even reached Aizen's skin.

Behind Renji was Ichigo with his hand on the red head's shoulder. At first glance, Rukia had thought that he would rather have the captain suffer to his death, however cruel that may had been. But when Renji fell to the ground with his eyes rolling into his head, Rukia quickly grabbed for her sword.

"R-Rukia, is that you?" the violet eyes of the raven haired noble flew to the man in the rubble. Her legs began to fail her as she saw that the man that had once been Aizen in her eyes had transformed into the friend she was trying to save in the same sorry state as the captain. Her head was turned suddenly as the so-called Ichigo was transformed into the traitorous captain in perfect condition.

The brunette captain smiled evilly and knocked the girl into a nearby wall. Rukia screamed in pain from the impact and felt the darkness around her destroying her vision.

"I'm terribly sorry Rukia Kuchiki. I would had love to see your reaction in killing your best friend, but it seem I will need him alive for my plan to continue in action. I hope your brother will forgive me," he apologized with a mocking bow. The world around her suddenly went black as Rukia could only utter a single word.

"Okaa-san," she said, knowing that she wouldn't be around to help her out now. Her body went limp as Ichigo screamed in horror of the condition of his two comrades.

"Leave them out of this Aizen! They did nothing wrong!" Ichigo yelled, struggling to keep himself awake in life.

"I would normally respect your request, but it seems that you have brought this trouble upon yourself. You told them our little secret, and now they have to pay the price. Unless, you would like to pay for them with your life," Aizen smiled. Ichigo felt he was torn between two sides of his friends and the lives of Soul Society.

"Answer quickly. It seems to be that your father already knows a great deal also. He would have the same fate as your friends, you know. It would be ashame for your sisters if they would suddenly find out they were orphans and your mother to know that both her husband and son are dead," the traitor commented. The amber eyes of the lieutenant closed in shame as he agreed to Aizen's terms.

The man crouched down to eye level of the teenager. Ichigo opened his eyes in hate for the traitor.

"That's a very wise decision, Ichigo. Now, do you remember our plan how everything is supposed to go from here on?" Aizen asked in a calming voice.

The orange haired teen nodded.

"That's very good. Now let's get you healed up. It would be ashame if you were to die on me. And then, we can get started with the show. You don't know how long Gin has been waiting for this," Aizen smiled and began restoring Ichigo to his full health.

* * *

Gin was a very smart man. In fact, he was a child prodigy back when he was a kid in the academy. And in his own honest opinion, he was even smarter than the far too serious Toshiro Hitsugaya of tenth division, even if he didn't earn a captain position right on the spot. But like most men in Seiretei when it came to women, especially to women like Ichigo's mother and Rangiku, he was at a total loss. At times like these, the third division captain wished that Izuru was still loyal and by his side to give him helpful advice.

He had only planned so far as to what to do. He had thought that the mother would have developed Ichigo's youngest sister's personality and that she would be soft-spoken and quiet. But it seems that it was from the mother that he earned his fiery personality.

"Why have you kidnapped me?" she yelled furiously. The mother certainly had his old third seat's temper.

"I guess you can say I owe a little favor for your son. He only asks that I will reassure you your safety while your not-so-wonderful stay here. Your son, on the other hand, may or may not survive his trip here and that is something I cannot do anything about. And will you please stay quiet, I don't need anyone searching my room for strange visitors," Gin explained. If he could slap himself in the face without making him look like a complete fool in front of the caramel haired woman, he would have done so. It was one of his many bad habits of talking in frustrating riddles and half answers, even if it was a life or death situation. His playful attitude didn't seem to want to leave him when he wanted it to.

"What are you talking about? What do you mean he might not survive?" Masaki asked, trying to keep her tone down to whisper. Her hate had diminished some due to feeling the guilt of her captor, but the mother was still wary of the fox faced captain. Something about him just screamed that he wasn't someone to be trusted.

Gin looked at the time and wondered if he would have enough time to tell the whole and true story to the human mother. He thought against it and decided to just give her a summery of what happened. It would not only save time, it would probably save his head from being sliced cleanly off by his previous captain.

"During the six years your son has been in Soul Society, Captain Aizen has taken an interest in him. He trained him so he could graduate the Academy as fast as he could. Two years later, he was admitted into my division as my third seat. After a little...'incident'... Ichigo was transformed into a Hollow and Shinigami hybrid. We trained him on how to use his Hollow powers properly and other techniques such as Kido and Sonido. But then he suddenly turned on us just over a year ago due to his conscious growing on him.

"It turned out that Captain Aizen didn't really like that. So he modified his original plan so that all of this would happen and your son will return to our side, by force if needed. But Aizen isn't going to have him go unpunished like this. If everything goes like it's supposed to, then there's a large chance that your son will be a dead man by the end of this. Your husband probably already knew about this and thought that you wouldn't be able to handle the news," Gin explained. Masaki was lost after her captor said hybrid.

The revelation of her son's past was huge news to her. Everything was suddenly making sense and connecting to each other. Her son's unusual behavior at home, her husband's reason to her kidnapping, and the false crime Ichigo was accused of. She sat down on a nearby chair and tried to regain her thoughts. Her brown eyes looked at the smiling captain in a mixture of confusion and surprise.

"Why?" she asked the captain. Her voice almost failed to ask that simple question.

"Why what?" Gin asked. He was hoping that she didn't want an answer to why his previous captain wanted her son so badly.

"Why are you telling me this? Aren't you one of the bad guys like Aizen? Won't he kill you or something if he finds out that you told me?"

Gin turned away to look out the window. Night was approaching and it was almost time for him to come back on stage with Izuru.

"Your son... is a good kid. It wouldn't be good on my conscious if he were to die on me. I'm not too fond of sad stories, you see," Ichimaru answered quietly. He walked to his desk and began stacking papers on his desk.

Masaki looked at the captain curiously. He suddenly went from a playful attitude to a serious and calm demeanor in a matter of seconds.

"And besides, I'm not too good at following orders either. It makes all of this so dull. Perhaps, something like you will make it a little more interesting," the third division captain looked up from his work to face the caramel haired woman with his eyes slightly opened. He had a true smile on his face. He walked forward without another word towards the door. His zanpaktou was in his hands, no doubt he was completing the next task in Aizen's plans.

The fox faced captain left the room to leave the caring mother alone in his room without another word. The door was purposely left open and the window was unlocked. Masaki walked towards the silver haired captain's desk in subtle curiosity and saw a small photo hidden beneath a pile of paper work. She lifted the stack carefully and pulled out the picture. Masaki curiosity only rose as she saw it was dated July fifteenth.

It was of her son, Gin, and another blond man she didn't know of, smiling into a camera they had gotten from the Human World with the remains of a birthday cake for the carrot top child. All three of them were covered in frosting from one of the most destructive food fights in history, but none seemed to care much of it.

On the back was the familiar but sloppy handwriting of her son.

_Thanks for the party, Onii-san. I'm really glad that we're friends. ~Ichi-chan. _

The mother smiled and found a piece of unused paper on the desk of the third division captain. She scribbled a note onto the piece of stationery and hid it beneath the photo in the pile of paperwork that had failed to hide the photo from her. The sun was just finally setting and would give her enough time to find her husband. She held tight to the charm in her hand and jumped out the window. From the information Gin gave her, it would be soon before fifth division captain would make his move. She could only hope that she won't find anymore trouble until then.

* * *

Pacing wasn't one of Isshin's favorite pass times, but it would suffice his need to do something while he waited. The minute he left the battlegrounds, Nanao had appeared and reported of losing Masaki to Gin Ichimaru. Kyoraku volunteered to search for the third division captain, much to Isshin displeasure, and left his lieutenant to watch over the fretting husband.

"Please, just stay calm. I'm sure that my captain is already on his way back with your wife at hand," Nanao calmed while pushing her glasses to a better position.

The older man completely ignored the bookworm and continued to trace his wife's spiritual pressure while pacing. From his knowledge, Gin was a captain to be wary about. Urahara had mentioned that he was a child prodigy under Aizen's guidance and command. It didn't help that the shopkeeper had said that the third division captain was almost always bored and used his morbid sense of humor to amuse himself.

"Isshin," the eighth division captain said as he suddenly appeared from no where. The straw hat on his head was tilted forward and caused a shadow to cover his eyes. It was a sign for bad news.

"Where is she?" the medic asked, looking around to make sure that she wasn't just hiding from him.

"I can't find her anywhere. I'm sure that you can't even sense where her spiritual pressure had gone to. Wherever she is, that third division captain seems to have kept her in a safe place. No one seems to have seen her either so she seems to be safe for now. I'll keep you informed with what I know as best I can. Right now, you should be out finding your son and getting out of here. Things are only going to get wilder from here. I hear that something big is going to happen and I'm not too sure that it's going to be good" Kyoraku said, hiding his face from the medic's glare.

The ex-Shinigami sighed, not knowing what to do next. He knew his wife could take care of herself, but the possibility that she might be used to lure Ichigo into some kind of trap was too great. Rukia was probably out there somewhere too along with Ganju and Yoruichi and they don't even know about the kidnapping of his wife.

"Thanks then. I'll be going on ahead," Isshin said and left the eighth division members staring. Nanao sighed at the fading reiatsu going towards the safe house her captain had just investigated.

"That idiot. Just save Ichigo and find the others later," the glasses wearing girl sighed.

"Don't be quick to judge him. He's a smart man. And besides, Ichigo won't be getting into too much trouble anytime soon. He may be his son, but he's a lot more responsible than his father," the captain smiled, "You can come out, Captain Kurotsuchi." Nanao widen her eyes to look behind to her to see nothing but a wall.

But soon enough, a man appeared wearing black and white make-up all over his face. The sight of him made the eight squad lieutenant shiver in fear. Beside him stood a girl of young age without any emotion to show. Her uniform was slightly modified and wore a skirt.

"That was Isshin Kurosaki, wasn't it, the father of Ichigo Kurosaki?" the mad scientist asked, not bothering to say any kind of greetings.

"I'm not telling. You were here the whole time too. Why don't you answer yourself?"

The twelfth division captain smiled and completely ignored the other captain's remark.

"Interesting. And it seems that my predictions were true. Come Nemu, there are a few things I would like to do at the lab," Mayuri ordered.

"Yes Mayuri-sama," the lieutenant answered and walked away with her father.

The bookworm lieutenant watched as the Kurotsuchi family disappeared to their barracks and wondered what her captain had in mind.

"It seems that we should leave too," Kyoraku said, beginning to leave to area.

"Captain, what do you plan to do now?" Nanao asked.

"Nothing,"

"Excuse me?"

"Aizen is a very smart and deceptive man. He is expecting everything and anything we will and could do. If we do anything, we don't know if we're going to hurt him or aid him in his plans. I already made a mistake with that man. I'm not going to make another one," the eight division captain explained. He began walking away towards his own barracks before he sensed another spiritual pressure coming towards them.

"Nanao! Watch out!"

The lieutenant barely registered her captain's words before said captain had tackled her out of the way of a wave of reiatsu. Kyoraku stood up to face the source of the attack. Out from the smoke walked out a shinigami in its full uniform. He held out his black katana and turned around to face the captain.

"Who exactly are you?"

As more of the figure became visible, the less the eight division captain wanted to know the answer to his question. His face was finally reveled to show that he was a wearing a bone white mask with several red stripes on the left side.

"Hollow? Or are you a Shinigami?"

The smoke finally disappeared to show the stunning orange hair.

"My name is Ichigo Kurosaki. Prepare to die," the figure said with no emotion and rushed forward to attack.


	12. Getting It All Together

"My name is Ichigo Kurosaki. Prepare to die," the black clothed figure said. His hand tightened around the black and red hilt of his sword as he rose his own monstrous spiritual pressure. Without another second to waste, Ichigo rushed forward to attack the eight division captain.

Kyoraku dodged to the left after having just enough time to register that the teenager had even moved to gathered his lieutenant in his arms bridal style, much to her objection to it. From just looking at the mask, he knew that Ichigo or whoever that man was, he was going to kill them.

"Nanao, go find Ukitake once I set you down. Tell him everything you know and wait for his judgment," he ordered while dodging the the multiple black Getsuga Tensho Ichigo was firing at them. When the teen seemed to have stopped in rapidly firing them, Kyoraku took the opportunity to set the young girl about thirty feet away from Ichigo. She nodded and disappeared from his sight in a couple of Flash Steps.

"Now, who exactly are you and why are you here?" the wise captain asked without turning his back. From behind, Ichigo appeared with his mask still on.

"I already told you my name. And I am here to kill you," the teen answered.

"Yes, but I would like to see your face, seeing how it's polite in a battle to know who your killer's face. It has been a while since I saw the youthful face of Ukitake's lieutenant too. So please take off that mask, Ichigo Kurosaki," Kyoraku ordered, turning around in a graceful step. Then, as if predicting the future, the eighth division captain jumped aside and landed softly back onto the ground twenty feet away from the teen. He pulled out his katana and prepared himself for a fight.

The Hollow-like reiatsu of Ichigo rose as the two of them prepared for battle. They stood still, preparing themselves for the first move. Kyoraku smirked motioning that he was ready to fight and the two of them vanished from sight. The two of them began battling at captain speed, only appearing when a strike was to be made. It was obvious that both were holding back but for different reasons.

The elder captain didn't want to endanger the child anymore that needed for the fact that he was still a child. Though why the Hollowfied Ichigo was objecting in using all of his strength was a mystery. Ten more minutes of the endless striking of swords, the two of them came to a stop. Neither were too heavily wounded but they weren't in the best shape either.

"You're holding back," the teen observed. His voice sounded like it was watered down, as if the mask was some kind of toy that modifies your voice.

"As are you. But I'm only refraining from using my Shikai because you're still only sixteen as of now," the captain answered. "But I suppose I might go and use it if you remove that mask, just for you"

The orange haired lieutenant didn't answer and flashed step away from view once more. Kyoraku's katana zanpaktou rose to meet with the unusual black blade of Ichigo's. Ukitake had told him before that his lieutenant had achieved Bankai long before any of this had every happen. The only reason why he wasn't a captain yet was because there was no need for another captain. So it had been a secret between the two captains and few friends of Ichigo.

But it was the first time he had ever seen the high school student's Bankai in person. The black blade was obviously condensed in size and spiritual pressure so that the wielder could move at faster speed. Not to mentioned, it was a way to have the element of surprise. No ordinary person would think that after wielding such a heavy sword for so long Ichigo would instantly get used to fighting with just and ordinary katana.

_Like he needs more speed and other advantages. He's like a Yachiru hyped on sugar combined with the Old Man Yama's strength. _Kyoraku thought to himself and dodged another Getsuga Tensho.

_But that mask is obviously boosting his strength too. If I were to just able to break it..._

From the side, Ichigo came with his black reiatsu covering the blade of his zanpaktou.

"Hmp," Kyoraku smiled and brought out his wakizashi and pierce the bone white mask in to pieces while holding the katana to block Zangetsu's attack. For a second, time seemed to have slowed down. The eighth squad captain smiled as he saw the young lieutenant's face come into view. The amber eyes were full of grief and sadness holding back tears that shouldn't shed. The pieces of the mask fell down to the ground, but faded away as they fell. Threads of orange hair flew in the wind. The gray eyes of the eight squad captain dropped down to his stomach.

He had lost.

Zangetsu had stabbed him all the way through. He could feel unconsciousness creeping towards his mind. His eyes began to become droopy, as if he had just taken another swing of sake. The last sight he saw was the broken look in the young boy's eyes. If he had the strength, he could see that the orange haired child was holding back tears. The wise captain closed his eyes. He didn't have the strength nor the will to continue. After all, fighting a child was against his principles.

* * *

Ichigo stared at the unmoving captain in front of him. He brought up his hand and summoned his mask once more. He flared his spiritual pressure to make sure that any that came here knew that he had done it. It wouldn't be long before a captain came to take him away. According to the modified plans Aizen had told him, it should be Soi Fon, Byakuya, or Tousen that should be coming. If the worst possible scenario happens, then he would just have to injury Kenpachi to show that he was a serious threat to Soul Society.

"Ichigo Kurosaki," Tousen it is then. The teenager turned around to see the blind man standing in the archway. He turned to look at the unconscious captain once more and disappeared to face the ninth division captain.

"Traitor to Soul Society and major threat to the officers here. As the captain of ninth division, I order you to surrender your zanpaktou and allow me to bring you into justice that the Gotei holds," Tousen commanded. Ichigo wanted to laugh at the irony of that order. He was more of a traitor Ichigo would ever be in ten life times. But without resistance, the "traitor" dropped his weapon onto the ground and allowed himself to have his reiatsu restrained with the familiar handcuffs.

In the far distance, he could feel the spiritual pressure of his friends slowly becoming stronger in the Fourth Division barracks. But knowing Aizen, he probably will make sure they won't tell the truth. Near there, he could feel his dad running around like an idiot. Ganju and Yoruichi were with him. But his mother was no where to be found around them.

"Tousen,"

"As the traitor, I order you to call me by my title," Ichigo could tell that the blind man was enjoying this.

"Captain of ninth division, where is my mom?"

The blind man didn't answer immediately.

"Aizen-sama has no plans to hurt any of your family members or friends intentionally anymore. It will be because of their own actions if they were to get hurt in this fight. But do not worry. Judgment will be pass on you tomorrow. And then, these worries of your family and friends will disappear," Tousen answered and continued to guide the captive into the Main Assembly Hall. The doors were open and immediately came into view the remaining ten captains.

Ukitake closed his eyes disappointment. He couldn't bare see a young child be brought to his death sentence.

Mayuri smiled in curiously. The captain could only hope that the Captain Commander had the heart to let his examine the strange Shinigami more closely.

Kenpachi frowned upon seeing the teenager in handcuffs. It definitely meant that they wouldn't be able to get another sparing match in.

Toshiro narrowed his eyes. It was a rare sight to see someone like Ichigo, who was full of potential, become lost in crimes such as these.

Komamura sighed in relief in seeing his old friend in good condition and without a scratch. But saw no justice in seeing that the young traitor Ichigo Kurosaki behind him and restrained.

Byakuya serious look never left his face. He had only heard for his sister that the orange haired teenager was a warrior with valor and never lost his resolve. But by just judging the look on his face, she was wrong.

Retsu remained indifferent. She knew the boy very well (seeing how often he visited her with scratches head to toe) , and was surprised to hear that he had gone traitor. Something was wrong here...

Gin didn't let his smile disappear, but inside, he wished he could just be in Ichigo's place and not worry about betraying everyone he cared about.

Soi Fon grabbed for her zanpaktou in case he were to make any type of attack.

Yamamoto stomped the ground with his staff and the captain turned to hear the judgment about to be passed.

"Ichigo Kurosaki. Do you accept the crimes you have committed? Including almost killing the eight division captain?" the Captain Commander asked. Had times been different, Ichigo would have wondered how news passed on so quickly if the technology here was so primitive.

The oldest Kurosaki sibling looked at all of the captains in the eyes, almost expecting someone to speak for him. No one did.

"Yes," he answered simply.

"Then so it is passed. Tomorrow, Ichigo will be executed by the Sokyoku at noon exactly. All captains will be required to attend. Take the traitor to the Senzaikyu and restrict of any use of spiritual powers and zanpaktou," Captain Yamamoto ordered.

Several guards from the first division came and followed the orders of their captains. Ichigo made no struggle and willingly left the meeting room. Those who knew him well that something was very wrong. But it wouldn't matter. Once judgment was passed, nothing could be done to change it.

"Once the execution is over, I want you to find the family of Kurosaki Ichigo and anyone else allied with him. It will be then will I discuss their punishment with the Central Forty-Six. You all are dismissed."

* * *

"Is she here yet?"

"No,"

Isshin growled impatiently. Somewhere along the journey to where Masaki was last seen he found Yoruichi and Ganju just wandering around the street aimlessly. They decided it was best that Yoruichi in her cat form to search for the Kurosaki wife. But it had been half an hour since the decision and Isshin was beginning to regret it.

Once again, he was pacing around like an idiot he knew he looked.

"Stop pacing around. She's going to be here any minute," Ganju ordered. The Shiba clansman was currently laying on the ground watching the doctor walk back and forth.

"Eh? When did you learn that Yoruichi was a girl?" Isshin asked, suddenly forgetting that his wife had disappeared and was no where to be found.

"Uh... That's not important! Look, she's here now!" the Shiba brother replied with a faint blush on his cheeks. Isshin felt the mood lighten as he thought about the first time he saw the truth of the she-cat.

The two men got up to meet with the tan woman fully clothed this time. Ganju let out a huge sigh of relief and continued into the room to hear the news. Isshin laughed while coming in and sat down to listen to what the Flash Step Goddess had to say. But from the look on her face, the normally hyperactive father turned stoic.

"Ichigo gone traitor," she said.

"Wha-What! He co-couldn't! He's not like that!" Ganju stammered.

"The execution time?" Isshin asked.

"Tomorrow at noon. There's no doubt that he's going to make his move by then. Masaki will have to wait, Isshin," Yoruichi explained. The father of three only clenched his fists at the thought for leaving his wife alone like that.

"Huh? Who are you talking about?" Ganju asked.

"Three of the thirteen captains of the Gotei are going to turn traitor tomorrow at noon. One of them are going to cause some real trouble for us. The other two shouldn't be too much of a big deal. All we have to do is focus on the nerdy one. Bring him down, and the other two should come down without a fight," Yoruichi explained and brought out a map of Seireitei.

"We are here. And Ichigo is going to be here by noon. We have about five minutes to reach him and destroy the Sokyoku before it kills him. Isshin is going to be the lead in this. He's going to retrieve Ichigo and make sure Aizen doesn't continue his plans. I'm going to make sure that Soi Fon and the other captains don't reach him. Ganju, I need you to find Rukia and any other friends Ichigo has. They're going to try to make sure that any other officers don't get near here. By then, I expect this to be over and Aizen should be done for," the noble princess explained.

"What about Masaki? She's not the type to just stay put and watch us. If she comes, she might just ruin this plan," Isshin added.

"If she does come, then you're going to have to find her and tell her about our plan. Then the two of you should rescue Ichigo," Yoruichi replied and closed her map.

The three of them asked and answered questions for about an hour before everything was set straight with all of them.

"Rest now. We have a big day tomorrow," she smiled and left in a final attempt to search to the lost housewife.

Isshin, for the first time in a long time, prayed for the safety of his wife.

* * *

_Stupid Isshin. Stupid worried father. Stupid Goat-face. It's his fault I'm lost like this. _Masaki thought as she ran through the streets of Seireitei. Night was coming and there was no doubt that there would guards at that hour too. She either had to find her husband or anyone else that she knew or find Ichigo and hoped that he knew his way around better than her husband.

"Hey, have you heard? That Kurosaki kid is going to be executed tomorrow at noon." Masaki stopped at a nearby corner stunned that they had already captured her son. She peeked out her head and listen carefully to the conversation.

"Really? Geez, and I thought they'll never catch him. Big waste though. He was some kid. Strong and fast. Especially after he disappeared that one night. They don't call him the 'Resurrected Shinigami' for nothing," a guard laughed.

_That must have been after his Hollowfication. _Masaki observed.

"Hey, don't talk about that kid like that. He could probably whip both of ya' in ten seconds flat if he wasn't such a wimp right now," another officer said. The other two guards straightened up as the bald man walked passed them.

"Ikkaku-san, do you think that they're really going to kill him?" one guard asked.

"Yeah. I didn't think that Kurosaki would go down without a fight," the other added.

"Che. That kid's nothing anymore. He has no will to fight. I doubt that he even has the resolve to even spar with me and Captain Zaraki. I just know something happened with, and I want to know what," Ikkaku spat out and walked on towards Masaki's direction. The caramel haired woman disappeared into the corner again.

_That was close. _She thought and got back onto her feet to search for one of her friends or family members.

"Hey, lady. You're the one they keep calling Ichigo's mother, right?" The bald man and another man appeared from behind her.

"Ah!" Out of instinct, Masaki brought out her charm and prepared to attack. Though she did not expect the reaction she got.

"Such a beautiful charm! And a beautiful woman to match. Though you're not as beautiful as I. I am, after all, the most beautiful Shinigami in Soul Society," the egotistical officer boasted and tried to grab the charm to examine it more.

"Don't worry about him. And we're not after you. You're not wanted until tomorrow after the execution. What I want to know is what is up with your kid," Ikkaku said.

"What are you talking about? I haven't seen him since I came here," Masaki replied, wondering if her son's strange behavior had anything to do with Aizen or his Hollowfication.

"Hey Ikkaku, who are you talking to over there? Don't tell me that you found a pretty girl that actually likes you," a guard joked.

The bald officer hid Masaki behind his back from the guard.

"Che. Like I ever settle for a lady. I only love fighting and that's all I need. Later, Rookies," he smirked and walked away with Masaki following them while hiding in the shadows.

"We're going to the eleventh division barracks. You're going to tell me everything you know. And then, we're going to save that punk from execution,"

The mother began to breath easy now. She now knew that they didn't mean any harm and would help her get to her son. If only she could find her husband now.

"Okaa-san,"

Masaki turned around, half-expecting Yuzu to peer out from the corner wanting a cup of water. But when she did, no one was there. She sighed, feeling a little home sick herself. She could only hope that whoever Isshin thought of to babysit her daughters was a caring person. But, after all, he was the one who allowed her to be kidnapped and caused this whole entire mess.

"Hey woman! You better hurry up or else we're leaving you!" the eleventh division officer threatened. She ran back to the bald man. She was probably just hearing things. But she couldn't help but think that someone needed her.


	13. Last Words?

"_Zangetsu?" _

_**'Yes Ichigo?' **_

"_Shiro isn't there anymore, is he?" _

_**'I'm afraid your Hollow is no where to be found,'**_

"_I see. Do you think we made the right choice?"_

_**'At this point, I believe that this is the wisest choice you could have made. Do not worry. Darkness can go only so far before the light can reach it,'**_

"_Thanks, Zangetsu," _

_

* * *

_

"Hey! Wake up, prisoner. The Captain Commander is going to allow you to think about your sins before you die and let you write to your family for now. Think of it as your final will and last words to everyone that still cares about you," the guard walked away after giving Ichigo the message and handing him a piece of paper and pencil.

After giving it more thought, he considered to be lucky or at least more fortunate than others. He was, in fact, given a window to look out from. From what he heard from Gin, some prisoners aren't even given the luxury of a lamp to use at night. It was about an hour before everything would settle in place. Aizen and his followers were probably already slaughtering the Central Forty-Six. Now that Ichigo thought about it some more, though it made Ichigo sick just thinking anything that did was actually useful, he was glad that Aizen had gotten rid of those lazy politicians. They had no real opinions on cases and made sure their laws kept them safe from harm.

Outside the window, the orange haired teenager could hear the preparations for the executions. He scoffed at the complexity of it all. Soul Society really had to change their ways to more subtle methods. It would be far more simpler if they just had a guillotine or something like that. Sure, a simple sword wound or being burned won't always kill you, but it didn't matter what you were, if your head is cut off, you're dead. Well...

The older Kurosaki sibling shook his head attempting to rid himself from the thought. At times like these Ichigo really felt he was going insane like his Hollow. Already he was thinking of simpler and more easier ways of killing himself. He really needed to just talk to Zangetsu again and regain his sanity. But the only way to do that without your Zanpaktou was if you were asleep or something. Heck, he even wanted to hear his Hollow mocking him for how weak he became and then knock some sense into him. But they took those parts of his soul from him.

The once great Shinigami laughed at that statement.

"_They wouldn't even be part of me if I never got into this mess." _Ichigo thought lightly.

Aizen, this Shinigami business, everything would have never happened. Sometimes, Ichigo even wanted to let his mother die in that accident with that girl. At least, things would be more simpler. Everyone would have blamed him for her death, but it wouldn't be that heavy of a burden to carry. He would never become a Death God this way. He didn't have care for the worries of Soul Society or for the Winter War. He would just be a normal human who could see ghosts. Nothing worse than a bad grade on a test or someone breaking up with him would happen to him. But a normal life would never happen for him. Not now. Now ever.

"Enjoying your stay here, Ichi-chan?"

The sudden sound of life startled Ichigo but the start soon turned into pity when he saw. His head had turned away from his window to see a familiar fox-eyed captain smiling at him. His more than usual pale face was an obvious sign that they had already killed the men of the laws.

"Yeah, why don't you stay and join me? Maybe they'll mistake you for the traitor and kill you instead. Or even, bring Aizen and Tousen too and let's just cross our fingers that they might die too," Ichigo answered sarcastically.

"That's no way to say farewell to a friend," Gin pouted. The teenager sighed. It must have been his time he spent with the captain, but he could never get mad at the him for some reason. No matter how annoying he became or how much of a traitor he was.

"How did you get here in the first place?" Ichigo asked.

"I thought that I might take a walk and decided to visit you along the way. But you do know that's not the truth, correct?"

"Of course. And I think that it's the only useful thing Aizen did here. Though it doesn't make up for everything else he's done. It is his fault that I'm like this after all," the ex-lieutenant answered as he turned his attention to his execution place.

A strange atmosphere surrounded them. It felt like they wanted to just laugh everything away like really good friends and wished it was just all a bad dream. But inside they knew that this one day was going to happen, and one of them were going to die.

"Makes you kind of wish you never gotten into this in the first place, huh," Gin muttered, his smiling disappearing for the first time today.

"Kind of,"

"Should have expected that answer," Gin sighed.

"But then again, a lot of things would have never happened if I didn't got into this mess," the orange haired added, surprising the third division captain.

"Really? You don't say,"

"Yeah. Like the time when I beat you in that snowball fight when we were just ten seconds in," Ichigo smirked.

"I just don't like cold weather. But I guess you're right. The time when Izuru and I filled one of your birthday presents with worms would have never happened if you never came along," Gin shot back. The two looked at each other in the eyes before laughing like they were old friends. Somehow the tension between the partners in crime had disappeared because of a simple little joke.

But with everything else burdening their minds, they knew that couldn't keep up with their innocent act.

"Well, later, Ichigo Kurosaki," the third division captain said as he turned around. Something had tugged at one of Ichigo's heartstrings when he said that. Almost like the captain was trying to distant himself from him. The captive got the message.

"Yeah. Later, Captain Ichimaru," Ichigo replied. The once cheerful amber eyes suddenly lost that little gleam in them and replaced for mild regret for destroying all ties he had the fox face captain. The captain stopped in his steps to look at his old third seat and friend but found that Ichigo's gaze was already focused on his execution place once more.

With a heavy heart and not another word, the captain left.

"_Next time we meet, let's hope we're not enemies," _Gin thought and flashed stepped to fifth division barracks to retrieve Hinamori.

* * *

Rukia woke up to the burning lights of a medical room. Once she grasped that she was in a fourth division patient room, she began to wonder how she got here, but the reason didn't seem to come up. Sitting up, she saw that her zanpaktou was covered in blood showing that she was in a fight.

"_But wasn't I saving Ichigo?" _Suddenly the memory of seeing her old friend in the rubble and injured came to mind and she immediately got out of bed much to her body's protest. Her hand grabbed her sword as she passed by it and she limped towards the door.

The door, however, opened before she got the chance to reach for the knob.

"Kuchiki-san! You shouldn't be out right now!" the fourth division lieutenant panicked, "Captain Ichimaru says that you and lieutenant Abarai have been seriously injured by Ichigo himself. For shame him. And to think that the two of you were very close friends." Isane grabbed the wrist of the Kuchiki adoptive and dragged her to her bed.

"You don't understand! I'm perfectly fine! I need to find Renji!" That excuse might have worked in not the second later she began to spit blood onto the ground. The lieutenant brought the young girl up to her feet again and helped her to her bed by putting her arm over her shoulder and crouching down to her small height.

"Rukia!" three minutes later, Renji came by with several fourth division officers attempting to restrain him. He was in better shape than the petite Shinigami and had only a few scratches on his face.

The fourth division lieutenant had already brought the unseated officer to her bed and was currently treating her injuries. The Noble's sheathed zanpaktou was leaning against a nearby wall.

"Lieutenant Abarai! You should be in bed also!" Isane stood up, surprised that the two had healed so quickly and were already able to walk.

"Don't worry about me. I'm fine as of right now. How's Rukia?" Renji's eyes stared at the unhealthy condition of his childhood friend and ran forward as fast as he could, effectively making all of the officers that were physically restraining him fall to the floor.

"Rukia?" the red head asked, scared about losing another one of his old friends.

"She'll be fine. But those wounds Ichigo gave her really did some damage. She should be discharged from here in about a week, if all goes well. For now, she should just rest," the lieutenant explained keeping her voice low so that the raven haired girl could rest. The red head relaxed some and looked at Isane with a confused expression.

"Ichigo? Are you saying he did this to her?" Renji asked in a hushed voice.

"Yes, Captain Ichimaru reported seeing him near you before leaving the two of you unconscious and wounded. It's a sad thing that he already was captured, though. I really hoped that we could have found another way, or something. But after Ichigo attacked on Captain Kyoraku, it doesn't seem like the Captain Commander is going to let Ichigo slide," Isane sighed.

The news hit Renji like rock.

"Th-The execution date. When is it?"

"Today at noon," the lieutenant said with a stoic expression, "You are free to accompany your captain to it if you feel well enough, but Rukia must stay here."

She left the sixth division lieutenant alone with his childhood friend. The red head didn't know what to do at this point. It was impossible for someone to stop the Sokyoku on their own. It was said that the power from the Sokyoku was the equivalent of the power of a million zanpaktou.

"Li-Lieutenant Abarai?"

Behind him was a meek looking officer holding one of the travel packs fourth division normally carried over his chest.

"I-I'm Hana-Hanatarou Yamada. Ichi-Ichigo isn't going to be executed, i-is he?"

"You heard your lieutenant. The captive was finally captured and he's going to die today at noon. There's nothing we can do to stop it either. The word from the Captain Commander is final and there isn't anything changing that," Renji sighed.

"I thought so," the officer frowned. Then, in a moment of bravery, he stated, "Well, I'm going to save him!"

The red head stared at the seventh seat officer for a moment and began to laugh.

"Che. A fourth division officer like you is going to save Ichigo from execution? Do you know how many captain are going to be there, no to mention your own?"

"Ichigo... Ichigo is my friend! I'm going to save him no matter what!" the ordinary officer announced. Renji stared at the resolve burning in the young officer's eyes. It reminded him of Ichigo when he was determined in a fight.

His eyes turned to his childhood friend. Her condition was still weak and it would be a miracle if she could still stand at this point. But it wasn't like that was going to stop her.

"Hey, Hanatarou, what can you do about her?"

"R-Rukia-san? She's in the best possible condition at this point, at least, that what's everyone saying. For some reason, they forgot about Hisagomaru," the medic said and held up his zanpaktou.

He walked over and held the blade over his wounds. It took Renji all of his strength to refrain from crushing the kid for having a sword so close to an already bad wound. But instead of hurting Rukia, it began to heal her. On the side, a meter began to rise as the wound closed. Curious, the red head asked what was happening.

Hanatarou explained that it was his zanpaktou's special ability. Instead of inflicting damage, it heals the wounds of a person. Even though it's only on a physical level, it still can reduce enough pain from Rukia to be able to walk again. The bar on the side meant that it was that much closer to reaching it's Shikai's form.

Soon enough, Rukia's eyes open to see her friend's smiling face and an officer from fourth division smiling sheepishly at her too. She returned the smile and was surprised to feel no pain as she sat up.

"Ho-How are you feeling, Rukia-san?" Hanatarou asked.

"Fine, thank you," the noble replied as she stretched her arms and legs. Her familiar blade landed on her lap sheathed and cleaned.

"Let's go," Renji ordered and began walking towards the door.

"Um, you shouldn't go that way, Lieutenant Abarai," Hantarou walked forward and pressed his ear onto the door. "People are still out there and will get suspicious if you just leave here for no reason."

"He's right. We're going to have to leave by the window," Rukia said.

"Che, like we're going to get there without anyone stopping us anyway," Renji added.

"That may be true, but it's going to give us a little head start before we actually get caught," the petite Shinigami mentally planned their route there and wondered if they would have enough time to get there.

"Um... you might want to hurry. The execution is taking place in an hour," the two childhood friend glanced at the white tower and knew that they will have to hurry if they were ever going to make it before Ichigo is burned into ashes.

"Actually, there's a safer way to get there and I think it's going to be faster too," the fourth division officer added, putting more thought into it. When he saw that his bit of information caught the two's attention, the meek seventh seat officer guided them to sewer system.

* * *

"Isshin? Are you there?"

"Yeah. How about you Ganju?"

"Why do I have to do this again?"

"Because I can tell your sister that you did nothing for this entire trip and I don't think that she'll exactly like to hear that bit of news," Ganju could almost hear the smirk the were-cat was putting on at this moment from his end of the transmitter. He sighed and quietly sneaked into the eleventh division's barracks. From what he could remember, Ichigo was a good acquaintance with the people here and the captain himself.

"What do you mean I can't go? I'm the captain's third seat! And besides, when did this thing become a private event?" Ganju froze from hearing the voice and peeked around a corner to see the guy he blew up and his partner arguing with another officer.

"P-Please Ikkaku-san, I'm only repeating what I heard from the captain himself. He doesn't want you to be forcefully retired from this division, or worse, be seen as a traitor like Ichigo. It just might be best for all of us if-"

"Screw this! I'm leaving! Yumichika, come on, bring that woman too!"

"Let go of me! I can walk on my own you know! I'm not useless at all!"

"Ganju? Is that Masaki? My beautiful Masaki! Tell her that Daddy is coming! And that he's very sorry for-"

"Isshin?" Masaki asked out loud to no one in particular and ran over to where Ganju was hiding when currently, the boar rider was trying to mute the doctor as best as he could, but failed. A light hand landed on his shoulder and along with it was a cool touch.

The youngest Shiba brother turned around slowly and found himself being both relieved and horrified at the same time. A feeling he only felt when his sister was around.

"Ganju? Please, may I speak with my husband?" the mother asked. Though asked with her normal calm and collected voice, Ganju could still feel the sick venom in them. He could only wish the best for Isshin and gradually released his grasp on the transmitter.

"Masaki!~ How I missed you so! I thought you have died by that horrible captain, Gin Ichimaru! You don't know all the horrible rumors I heard about him. Especially the rumor about him and the tenth division lieutenant! It was-"

"Shut up you good for nothing goat chin! Compared to you and your inexcusable behavior and keeping secrets from me, the third division captain was quite the gentleman! Why didn't you tell me about Ichigo? There are things you do keep secret, but this isn't one of them! No where are you? I want to slap you and tell you in person what a horrible husband you been to me!"

Yoruichi, who was listening from her end, was surprised at the temper of the lady. All the stories she heard from humble shopkeeper were true. But who would have guessed? She certainly had the Flash Step Goddess's respect. And in order to show it, the were-cat brought out the person the normally peaceful mother requested.

"Y-Y-Y-Yoruichi? Um... I think my son is dying! Allow me to go and save him like the great father I am! Wait for me ICHIIIIIGOOOOOOOOO! I may have nothing to teach you, but I can still-" Isshin stopped when he was met face-to-face with his wife. Her face showed that she was not pleased. Ganju had already disappeared, probably hiding and trying to talk some of the eleventh division's members into saving Ichigo.

"Lucky him," Isshin grunted.

"What was that? Isshin?" his wife asked, still ticked about the goat face leaving her.

The smoker sighed and closed his eyes to prepare for the worse. But when Masaki wrapped her arms around in a tight grip, Isshin could honestly say he was pleasantly surprised.

"Don't do that again, you idiot. Don't keep secrets from me. Don't ever distance your life from mine. We're in this together, and we're going to save our son with all the friends we made," the mother of three cried silently as she spoke. Her tears were on the edge of appearing and her voice breaking down. The father returned the hug and smiled.

"You really couldn't ever compliment me, even when I did it all to protect you from the truth," he whispered and pulled his wife away from him. "How much do you know?"

"All of it. The Hol-" Masaki was cut off due to Isshin's hand covering her mouth.

"Shh. We're already in trouble and so is Ichigo. We don't need anymore of a reason to why he should be executed. So just keep it a secret between you and me, okay?"

The caring woman nodded and slapped her husband. The motion was so quick, that Yoruichi almost didn't it see the attack.

"What was that for?" Isshin asked in pain.

"It's what you get for letting me get kidnapped twice in one day," she answered with a devious smile and beckoned the group to follow her. Behind the corner were the two eleventh division officers waiting patiently while plenty of more officers laid unconscious around their feet.

"You done yet? We're going to have to move if we're going to make it in time," Ikkaku complained.

"Don't worry, Ikkaku. We'll make it, and we'll do it in the most beautiful way. Unless that ugly man is coming with us. Then our entrance will only be half as beautiful,"

"Say that again, pretty boy," Ganju growled.

"Enough. Eleventh Squad, Isshin, and Masaki, you go forward towards the tower. Ganju, you search around for Rukia. I'll flash step ahead. There is something I need to do if this is all going to work," Yoruichi ordered and disappeared a second later. The group nodded in agreement and disappeared also. Ganju, being the slowest of them all, was the last to leave and suddenly felt a strong spiritual force towards where Ichigo was being kept.

"Che, these Kurosaki men have really horrible luck," the Shiba younger brother joked and went out to find the Kuchiki murderer.


	14. Finale

"Kurosaki Ichigo, the time has come," the teenager looked up from his letter and sighed. Somewhere inside, he had hoped that his family would have broken in against all odds and save him. But now that he thought about it, it was probably too much of a miracle to ask for. He gave the letter to the guard who sealed it within an envelope. He gave it back to Ichigo's surprise.

"The letter will be sent at the last second, before your execution. For now, you shall hold it. It is one of the laws of Soul Society" the guard explained after seeing the confusion on the orange haired captive's face. In the guard's left hand was a short piece of rope meant to tie around his wrists. Due to the tower's sekki sekki structure, Ichigo's spiritual pressure had been diminished and wouldn't need to have restrainers on him twenty-four seven.

The two of them walked down the swirling stairs in silence. Ichigo's heart began to beat faster as he felt the reiatsu of the captains Flash Stepping towards the execution grounds to watch him to die. In the far distance of fourth division, the hybrid could feel the normally drunk captain's reiatsu gradually gaining strength and he rested. It wasn't fear he felt, but more like anxiety. He knew that this situation was inescapable, but Ichigo couldn't help but feel nervous that his life would end in the next few minutes..

"Walk faster, traitor. The Captain Commander and the other captains of the Gotei should not wait on sinners like yourself," the guard tugged harshly on the rope connected on the teen's collar. The rope that tied his hands behind his back didn't help the fact that he wanted to slug the man in front of him. As they entered the outside world, Ichigo began to wonder why they had only sent one guard to bring him. He was a "high level threat" after all and one guard shouldn't be enough. Now that he thought about it, shouldn't they have restrain his reiatsu than to just tie ropes on his hands?

But he never got the chance to ask because the moment they stepped out, the guard began Flash Stepping out of sight and away from the gathering captains. Ichigo felt the sudden tug on his neck and Flash Stepped by instincts to follow the strange guard and to not get hung.

"H-Hey! Where are you taking me? And who are you?" the teen asked as he was pulled by the neck. He wished he had Zangetsu back.

"Isn't it obvious, my beloved son!" Ichigo blinked in surprised and was mild annoyed for some reason. He knew that voice somewhere. The way it annoyed him with every word he spoke. The strange and yet embarrassing words. And the excited tone only confirmed that it belonged to...

"Goat Face? What are you doing here? No, why are you here! You're supposed to be gone! Out of here! Not saving me!"

"That is no way to greet your father, Ichigo! Especially since after all I've been through to save you!" His father removed his hood to show that he really was Isshin Kurosaki and not some kind illusion. To his knowledge, Aizen had never met his dad and thus would never be able to recreate the image, but it was better safe than dead.

"How do I know you're actually Goat Face and not one of Aizen's illusions?"

"My only son can't remember who I am! Oh why cruel Soul Society! Haven't I repaid for my sins! Why punish me any longer! Don't worry Ichigo! Daddy is-" the father cried out but was interrupted by a fist slamming into his face. There was no way the fifth squad captain could replicate how annoying his dad was.

"Okay, I believe you! Now just shut up!" Ichigo growled, only now noticing that his father was a Shinigami. Though his clothes were replaced by the guard uniform, Ichigo could still see that they were traveling by Flash Step and not by normal running.

"You're a-"

"Shush. We don't need to have anymore attention on you. Now let's find Rukia and Ganju and we can be on our-"

"No," Ichigo interrupted. The father stopped at the answer. He stared back with a serious look on his face. The amber eyes of his son only stared back with a fiery intensity.

"What do you mean 'No'? "

"I know you know what's going to happen if we do what you say. Aizen is going to destroy Soul Society. I have to stop him now. It's my fault I let him get this far and I'm not going to let him get any farther. Soul Society is still my home too. Get Rukia and get out of here. He's going to be targeting her and he'll be this much closer in becoming that god he always wanted," Ichigo explained. The medic didn't seem to object to his son's opinions and brought out a knife to cut the ropes holding him on his arms and neck. Once he was finished, he walked behind a tree to retrieve a familiar sword for his son.

"Good answer. Now we're going to have to hurry, your mother is going to be able to impersonate you any longer," Isshin chuckled while handing him Zangetsu. His son stared at his father with a panicked expression.

"Wait. Did you say that Mom is out pretending she is me?" Ichigo whispered, scared to hear the answer.

"Of course! You didn't think that she would just stand around and watch me do all the saving? Masaki is just too stubborn for that. So we had this wild idea and went with it! She's just that kind of woman. It's the thing that made me love her in the first place," the ex-shinigami laughed. The orange haired Kurosaki widen his eyes and disappeared from his dad's sight leaving him clueless and confused.

"Is it something I said?" Isshin asked and followed his son to wherever he was going.

_'It's not like she's going to get killed. She's too stubborn to let Death take her without a fight,_'

* * *

If the burning intensity of the fire bird in front of Masaki didn't prove that she was in need of help, then the woman had no common sense at all. Even Kenpachi knew that much. But no matter how you would look at the caramel haired woman, she held no fear. That alone should have sent signal lights to all of the captains.

It was obvious at first glance what their plan was. They had somehow switched places with the mother and son without anyone's notice. Then while they were escorting the replacement Ichigo, someone was guiding the real Ichigo to a secure place. But they knew very well that the group of ryoka would have to come back and retrieve to woman at one point or another. Bringing her to her death will just quicken the process.

"Che, the woman has guts," the elventh division captain admitted.

The bird of flames rose from the spearhead and and released the legendary power it held. The officers guarding the rest of Seiretei stared in awe at the one-in-a-lifetime sight. Even a few of the lieutenants and remaining captains watching flinched at the strength the death bringer held. Masaki didn't even blink.

The bird didn't waste any time and charged forward. Time seemed to slow at that moment. Memories of her family flowed into her mind and gave her strength and comfort that she wouldn't die at that moment. She gave out a deep sigh and prepared for the worse. Her eyes caught a pinch of black flowing in the wind and she smiled. The blocks restraining her denied her access to her limbs, but if she could, she would have hugged her son at that very moment.

"Kaa-san," Ichigo breathed as he stood on thin air. Zangetsu was protecting him from the death flames of the bird. The raw resolve he had in his sword gave it strength to fend off the bird for a single time. It flew backwards to prepare for another attack.

"Ichigo," Masaki smiled and finally allowed her tears to show.

"I'm not going to leave you alone anymore. So don't cry," the guardian smiled and watched as the bird prepared for the next and final attack. Mentally, Zangetsu noted that he wouldn't be able to guard this attack. But it wasn't his mother that was supposed to die, it was him. He gladly accepted death if it meant that his mother would live, but it seems that fate had other plans. Seconds before the bird attacked, two cords was attached to its beak.

"A little late with the timing there, Ukitake," Isshin joked after appearing from behind.

"My bad. It took longer to prepare than I thought," the sickly captain apologized from behind a giant shield. Soi Fon stared at it surprised. The shield had belonged to the Shihoin Clan and was currently being used by Ukitake. That could only mean that the Flash Step Goddess was somewhere near.

The second division captain Flash Stepped away after giving the single order of capturing the traitors to her lieutenant. He squealed like a pig at the sudden command, but didn't have the reaction time to question it.

Ukitake brought out his zanpaktou and stabbed it into one of the vertical slots of the shield. Isshin brought his own sword and repeated the action. Energy flowed into the the shield and transferred through the ropes. What happened next could only happen once in a millennium, if you were lucky. The legendary death bringer of flames had been destroyed.

But Ichigo didn't have time to stare in awe. He jumped from in front of his mother to the execution pole holding her prison.

"Wh-What are you doing?" the mother yelled. This wasn't part of the plan. It could also spell certain doom for her if he wasn't careful.

"I'm destroying the execution pole! Just don't look down!" Ichigo replied as he spun Zangetsu on the cloth.

"Wait! What if you kill us!" Masaki worried. Ichigo could only smirk at the reaction as he grabbed his blade.

"Just watch," the red head ordered and stabbed the wooden execution pole. For a second time for the day, everyone was blinded by another impossible sight. Even the normally stoic Byakuya gave an expression to show his surprised.

"Dad told me that my name meant 'He who Protects'. I didn't really understand why you named me that. I couldn't even land a hit on Tatsuki back then. But after everything that happened and all the people I met, I think I understand now. I don't want to win every fight I get into. I don't want to get stronger so I can defeat people. I want to win the fight so I can protect those around me. I want to get stronger so I don't let anyone down," Ichigo's voice flowed into his mother's ears,"You're not going to be any different," Ichigo smiled and helped her onto her feet. They locked eyes with each other. Both of them observed each other as if they hadn't seen each other in years. Then, as if she was never going to see her son again, Masaki brought her son into a strong embrace. Her son returned the action and wrapped his arms around her.

"My, my, isn't this a heartbreaking reunion?" a voice from no where asked. The mother and son looked to their left to find an unwelcoming face smiling down at them.

"But it seems that it will have to come to an end," Aizen walked forward, ignoring the surprised looks he received from the captain and lieutenant.

"Captain Aizen! He's alive!"

"How? He was proclaimed dead a week ago!"

"What does he have to do with Ichigo!"

"It seems my revival cause a bigger commotion than I thought," the true traitor dully observed. His true focus was on the wonder test experiment in front of him.

The red head stared at him with malice. He repositioned Zangetsu to prepare to attack. His mother was behind him as she held her red charm in her hand.

"Oh? It seems that your wonderful mother is prepared to fight this time. Tell me, Masaki, are you going to let your son be taken again, or are you going to protect him like a proper mother should?" Aizen taunted.

"Don't let him get to you," Ichigo warned in a hushed tone, "He loves to use words against you. No matter what, don't believe anything he says,"

"After all, his Hollowfication was mildly your fault. If you were the one to die on that fateful day, there would have been a slim chance that the boy's hidden powers would have never awaken. He would most likely have a normal life with normal thoughts on his mind. None of them relating on the destruction of Soul Society or the situation on hand. He would have never experience a second personality inside his inner world continually trying to gain control over him and leave him trapped within his own body. He wouldn't have to see the deaths of many by his own hand or the face the strong pleasure when he made his first kill on a innocent bystander whose death meant nothing to him. Now that I think about it, all of this would have never happen if you didn't allow you child to run after the illusion Grand Fisher made."

The mother was speechless. Every syllable that came out the venomous mouth of the brunette captain was true. It felt as if the words themselves were blades and had stabbed her right in the heart. Her knees weakened suddenly and she felt her body being dropped off the execution pole.

"Kaa-san!" Ichigo yelled preparing to jump to save her.

"Are you sure you want to save her? After all, she did cause you all of this pain. I think I overheard you saying that you always wanted to be a normal kid a few years back. If she dies, then you could have your revenge. Her life is the exact payment for all the pain you suffered," Aizen smiled.

Ichigo paused slightly. He didn't know why. Maybe somewhere in his heart he did blame his mother for all of this. But that part was very small and the hesitation was short lived. He jumped down and and reached to grab his mother's hand.

The smirk the glass wearing captain smiled as his plan was executed perfectly. He looked in the distance to see the vessel of the Hogyoku running towards him. Everything couldn't be more easier. The ex-captain disappeared, unknown to the captains below who were currently concerning themselves with the so-called traitor.

"You got to believe me! Aizen is the traitor. Look! He disappeared too! Byakuya! He's out to get your sister, isn't that more important!" Ichigo yelled as he dodged the multiple swords with master Flash Steps.

"I care more about the law than I do with my family. My ryoka sister is nothing I should concern myself with," the stoic captain replied, but couldn't help himself to check for his sister's spiritual pressure.

"Aizen is going to destroy that law your family created! He's going to destroy Soul Society if you don't stop him!" Ichigo yelled. He looked towards his mother who was currently in the hands of his father. The shock of revelation must have cause her to faint.

From behind him, he could hear fireworks being fired. The only one who could have done that was Ganju Shiba. Time was running out.

"I'll surrender myself to Soul Society if you manage to find Aizen and stop him! There's no time!"

"Scatter, Senbonzakura," The blade of the noble disappeared and transformed into thousands of pink cherry blossom petals. The illusion the sword fragments created was beautiful, but no one could admire the beauty at the moment. The reaming captains were conflicted with themselves as to what to do. The Captain Commander was fighting his ill pupil. The remaining lieutenants didn't dare step in to help the sixth division captain. Where was Ken-

"Che. I'm not sure what's going on, but I'm going to make sure you stay alive, Kurosaki Ichigo. You owe me a rematch, and I'm going to get it no matter what!" The insane battle captain smiled as he guarded Ichigo from Byakuya's attack.

"Move aside, Kenpachi," Captain Kuchiki ordered.

"Fat chance that's going to happen," Kenpachi laughed and looked back at Ichigo, "What? Are you going to stare all day or are you going to save that stick-in-the-mud's sister?"

Ichigo smiled and left the battle scene.

"Why did you let him go like that?" the Noble asked.

"You heard me, I want my rematch," Kenpachi answered.

"That's not the true reason,"

"You're going to have to beat the answer out of me if you want to know so bad,"

"Very well then. Bankai,"

* * *

Ganju couldn't understand what was happening in front of him. The red head Shinigami who had stated that he wasn't a foe was unconscious and on the ground with multiple wounds all over his body. He had just fired the last of his special fireworks under Rukia's orders. Two captains suddenly appeared in front of them. One was wearing glasses and was currently in reaching distance from the female Shinigami. The other stayed in the back, waiting for orders from the other captain. And worst of all, Ichigo was no where in sight to save them.

"Stand up, Rukia Kuchiki. Your savior cannot save you now. Though it would have been more easier if he killed you when I ordered him to, I suppose this method works as well," the glasses wearing captain smiled, "You see, Kuchiki-san, Ichigo refused to kill you because he thought of you as Nakama. That fool. After what has happened to Kaien, can you really accept him as a Shinigami? Deep inside, you know I'm right. One day, you might even have to kill him. It seems that the odds had turned on him.

"But that is enough of that talk for now. Now for the extraction process,"

Rukia, who was barely able to breath after being under the captain's monstrous reiatsu, barely saw the events go past her. Six wooden pillars rose from the ground out of no where and trapping her in some kind of stunned state. Her violet eyes widen as she felt a hand go through her being.

"This is certainly a surprise. Such a powerful device in such a small form," the captain observed. His hand was removed from her and transformed back to normal.

"Hmph, is seems that Ichigo is a little late with his entrance. It doesn't matter though. Gin, kill her," Ganju stared as the silver haired man grabbed his sword without a regret.

"As you say, Captain Aizen. Shoot to kill, Shinso," the short blade instantly became longer acting like a speeding bullet seconds away from killing the young girl.

There was no reaction time to move. Rukia stood motionless as she saw the blade of the fox captain quickly run towards her. Ganju tried running forward to at least attempt to save her, but he too was paralyzed under an unknown force. Perhaps it was his fear, but whatever it was, it made him regret every horrible thing he said to her.

"That's enough, Aizen, Gin," a voice said from in front of Rukia. The black blade of the figure blocked Shinso from stabbing the noble adoptive. Ichigo had come and saved her. The glaring eyes made sure the two captains didn't move, for any sort of movement will probably outcome to their deaths.

"You're terribly late, Kurosaki Ichigo. But it's better late than your friend dead, isn't it?" Aizen smiled, showing the device he held in his hand. Ichigo growled in disdain, but didn't move to attack. Something was approaching and he didn't like the feeling it gave off.

"I suppose this is our final meeting as equals then. The next time we meet, you are sure to know that I will become a god. I will rule over the King's realm and destroy this pitiful afterlife. I bid you farewell," the brunette said. He began walking away from the teens when two nostalgic faces appeared seemingly out of no where.

"Don't move a single muscle,"

"Unless you favor becoming headless," Soi Fon finished for her master. The two females had their swords on his neck and waist. The man had no possible way of moving without severely injuring himself.

"You're completely surrounded, Aizen," and suddenly captains and lieutenants from all squads, including Kenpachi and Byakuya, were present with the intent to kill the fellow traitor. Hisagi had trapped his own captain and was currently holding his sword to his throat. Ex-captain Ichimaru was the only one not to have someone holding him down.

"Wow, what teamwork! What ever should I do?" Gin smiled as he waved his hand in the air carelessly as if he was asking to be caught. His wish seemed to come true as he felt a soft hand grabbing for his wrist.

"Don't move, please," Rangiku ordered politely. It was obvious that she sill cared a bit for the man she was holding captive for.

"She caught me, Captain Aizen. Sorry," Gin apologized, careful not to let the strawberry blond see that he what he was truly feeling.

Aizen laughed.

"What's so funny, Aizen?"

"Forgive me, but it's time," Aizen continued laughing, as if he knew an inside joke.

Ichigo and Yoruichi panicked as they felt a strange reiatsu coming closer to them.

"Get out of there!" they said simultaneously.

A split second of hesitation and the four people holding the traitors down might have been caught in the force field sent down by the multiple Menos Grande. The sky ripped open to show that hundreds on Meno Grande coming from the world of Hollows had somehow appeared into Soul Society without any trouble. Behind the army of Hollows was giant eye that seemed to have glowed in the darkness in appeared in.

"Im-Impossible," Ukitake gasped, not believing at the quantity of Hollows that were arriving.

The other two traitor captains were also protected by the strange force field and were lifted up into the sky. Though it was only Gin who had last words his friend.

"Too bad. It would have been nice if my capture had been a little longer," Gin sighed, "Sorry, Rangiku,"

"No one go after them. Save your strength. Those three are out of our reach for now. Their in a shield of light that's called Negacion. Menos use it to save their comrades," Ichigo explained, "We lost,"

Komamura screamed in disgust to his old friend, arguing that this wasn't the path of justice. Ukitake asked if Aizen had fallen in the process only to have Aizen answer that he will soon sit on the throne of a god. The glasses were thrown to the ground and his hairstyle was changed.

"Good-bye, Shinigami. And good-bye to you, Ichigo. You were a great test subject," Aizen farewelled and disappeared to the dimension of Hollows. They had indeed lost the battle.

* * *

All of Fourth Division had arrived and immediately began treating the injured. Most of the captains were in fine condition, as were the lieutenants. It was Renji and Byakuya they had to treat the most. Masaki had at one point regained consciousness and was currently sitting on the edge of the cliff. She watched as the sun began to sink from the sky and night take over.

"It's really beautiful, isn't it? It's not as beautiful as the one on the hill near the bridge, but it's still pretty," Ichigo commented. Masaki refused to say anything.

"Kaa-san?"

"It's my fault, right? That all of this happen?"

Ichigo didn't know what to say. It was true. His mother could have died and none of this would have happen. But then again, he would have never experience all of the good things that had happen.

"No. It's not your fault. And you shouldn't blame yourself. Karin and Yuzu need you and you can't go back home with that look on your face. They'll be sad and then everyone will be sad. Besides, if this never would have happened, then I wouldn't have made all the good friends I did," Ichigo comforted. The attempt made his mom feel slightly better, but her heart was still broken knowing that this happened because of her.

"I suppose you aren't going with us, are you," Masaki asked behind her drying tears.

"Not sure. The old man says he has to do some thinking before he gives anymore commands," the orange haired teen replied, staring absently into the sunset.

"That makes me wonder, who did Isshin bring to babysit Yuzu and Karin?" The mother and son looked towards the eccentric father who was currently drinking with a few of his old friends.

"I'll see when I get home," Masaki smiled.

"Tell them I'm sorry then," Ichigo smiled back and walked away. It was heartbreaking to know that he was going to be separated from his family again, but it was best for them if they were ever going to live a normal life.

"Hey Ichigo," his mom called.

"Yeah?"

"Do you like sunsets?"

Ichigo smiled. She knew the answer to this already. The question constantly was brought up when they took a walk during the evening.

"Not really. They're kind of sad, you know?"

"I actually don't know. Why don't you keep my company and tell me about it?"

It was a beautiful sight to see. The final scene of a peaceful mother and son moment, before the idiot father and husband of the two came along and messed it up and the son had to kick said man off the cliff they were sitting on.

* * *

_~Days afterwards~_

"Okaa-san! I'm so glad to see you!" Yuzu screamed as she ran out the door. Karin came out next along with the caretaker Isshin had hired. He was a strange looking man, though somehow he managed to look like he thought he was better than everyone else. He had silver hair and wore rectangular glasses. The suit he wore screamed he was rich and as stoic as that captain of sixth division. Though it had looked that he was in a good mood.

"You must be the Isshin's friend," Masaki greeted. Almost immediately the man's good mood had disappeared into something similar to rage, but not as intense.

"Please, do not put that man and I in the same category. My name is Ryuken Ishida," he introduced.

"I'm sorry about that. I hope my girls weren't too much of a trouble," the mother smiled after giving the two of them a strong hug.

"No problem. Tell Isshin this is going on his tab," Ryuken replied and walked away in the distance.

"Okaa-san, where's Ichi-nii?" Yuzu asked. Her brown eyes looked around curiously wondering if her brother was hiding around somewhere. Karin knew better than to think optimistically like her sister

"Some... things came up while we were there. So he has to stay there for a little longer. But he promises that he'll be back as soon as he can. He says he sorry for not being here for you guys," Masaki answered, trying to keep a smile strong for her daughters. The twins nodded and walked inside, still not feeling satisfied with the answer. Isshin had returned back into his body, though he had looked as if he was attacked.

"Isshin, what happened?"

"Ryuken seems to still have the same accuracy as always," Isshin replied and shook off the pain. He ran inside to his young girls, one of which punched him in the face for not changing in the last month.

Masaki laughed. It seems like their family would be fine for the next few months without their son and brother.

* * *

The family conducted themselves normally, none of them noticing the loss of their brother, for the first few days. But as time past, the empty seat at the dinner table was almost impossible to look at without sighing. Sometimes Masaki would hear her daughters praying in their room for the safe return of their brother. Kon had returned to his plushie form for Ichigo no longer existed in this world thanks to the memory eraser borrowed from Urahara. Some of his friends who were resistant to the memory eraser would come over and stay for dinner, as if their son had invited them over.

It was a month before anything serious happened though.

It was a normal Saturday morning. Kids would wake up. Isshin would hug his daughters to make sure they knew he loved them. Masaki would be down making coffee. And then the family would go on with their daily work scheduled. And as planned, that is what they did. But at seven thirty when the family had just finished dinner, the doorbell was rung.

"I got it," the mother said and walked to the door. What happened next was not what she expected to see.

"Hey, Kaa-san," the white hair on the teenager's head threw her off for a second, but she then saw the happy look in his eyes and knew it was her son.

"Ichigo!"

"Ichi-nii?" his sister asked. He crouched down and spread his arms wide. He hugged them both as they ran into his eyes. Yuzu began crying a bit and Karin scolded him for being so late with his entrance. Masaki watched the beautiful scene and didn't notice that Isshin had disappeared.

"ICHIIIIIIIIIGOOOOOOOOOOOO!" the doctor yelled as he attacked his son from the side. Ichigo dodged gracefully and watched as his father destroyed the wall of the clinic, "You are late my son! You know dinner is always at seven in this house!"

"Shh, I can't let anyone know my name is Ichigo anymore. It's Jirou," the white haired teen explained ignoring that his father had just tried to kill him again.

"Jirou-nii?" Yuzu said it a couple times to get it to sound right in her mouth.

Ichigo, after a dinner prepared by his mother and Yuzu, explained that Soul Society allowed him and a few others he specifically chose to stay in Karakura Town in case of an attack of Aizen. But Ichigo would have to go under a false identity while here since he was already alive and would only cause a commotion that someone that had died came back to life. When asked about his name, he only replied that his appearance reminded him of a friend and he wanted to honor that friend.

"So, you'll be staying with us then?"

"For the time being, yeah,"

"Yay! Jirou-nii is part of our family again!" Yuzu exclaimed. Karin smiled and got ready for bed. The father cried tears of joy after hearing the news. Masaki smiled once more for her family.

Everything was right with the world again.

Her son had returned after they had risked their lives to save him. No one was sad for the most part and most were actually happy that the empty room upstairs was going to be occupied for once.

But there wasn't a real family in the world that didn't have their fair share of problems with society. It was no problem though. Protecting their brother/son/guardian will just have to be another one of their daily activities now.

* * *

The final official chapter. Thanks for everyone who read my first real story! Love ya all!


	15. And the Curtains Close

Warning: The next chapter has spoilers for the most recent Bleach manga. Don't read if you don't want to be spoils. Chances are though, you might not even see them.

* * *

The war was finally over and there were surprisingly few deaths during said war. The news about the whole town suddenly becoming unconscious for some reason died out and most people just thought it was some kind of odd dream they all had. Aizen was dead and Soul Society was safe once again.

But peace never lasted long in Karakura Town, especially on this day.

"Where is he? I don't see him, do you Karin?"

The raven haired daughter shook her head as she scanned the area with her binoculars.

"Masaki! Please don't say that I have lost your heart to another man!" Isshin yelled from behind his wife as he cried.

"Shush! And you know that's isn't true," the caramel haired woman whispered harshly.

The family and friends were packed in the Kurosaki clinic, hiding behind various furniture and in the many closets Isshin installed for no reason. Karin stayed on watch as she looked for the signal. Yuzu stayed in the kitchen and prepared the last of the snacks and cake she prepared on her own.

"Then why are you telling my dear Karin to look around for the devious trouble maker and my son who hates me!" Isshin cried out.

Masaki silenced him with a slap in the face and continued looking outside with her daughter. All she needed to see was her brother running down the road to their home to give the signal for everyone to hide, Karin reminded herself.

She just prayed that Gin didn't go too overboard when he said he was going to lure her brother to the clinic himself.

* * *

"Come and catch me, Ichi-chan! Or else I'm going to get there before you do! And show this pretty picture of you~" Gin sang out as he ran in his human gigai. Ichigo wasn't far behind, but still struggled to keep up with the silver haired man since he was also in a gigai and had only average human abilities.

Since the end of the Winter War, Gin Ichimaru was to be killed by the Soul Society or banished to the Human World for eternity. But thanks to the witnesses who saw that Gin had helped in killing Aizen, it was concluded that Gin be banished to the Human World for fifty years. After those years of being exiled, Gin would have the choice of regaining his captain title, but would be under heavy watch until it was sure that he wouldn't go traitor again or staring from scratch as a academy student and working his way up the ranks.

But due to several people's views on the man, he wasn't allowed to roam freely for the fear that Gin might destroy a city within a day. So he was placed under the care of Kurosaki's parents. Ichigo didn't mind. His mother didn't mind. The two daughters didn't mind either. It was Isshin, who feared he was going to lose his wife for him, who minded. Gin also objective. He felt that being under a house where someone will hate your entire being was just too cruel. The council took no pity and left him in the care of the human family of Ichigo.

The worst part of the deal was that since he was exiled, he had no way of getting back his stuff he kept in his office. Izuru, Matsamoto, and Ichigo were the only three permitted to go back and forth the dimensions and bring the requested items. It was normally Izuru and Matsamoto who did the tasks, but due to Gin's constant voice mails on his soul pagers, Ichigo finally got around to get the photo book he requested. But when he gave the book to the exiled captain, he immediately pulled out a picture he took of Ichigo a few years ago and taunted that he was going to show his family.

And thus caused a chase scene all around town.

_'Get him King! I just started to like the sun in here and I'm not going to let him spoil it!' _the Hollow, now named Hiroshi, ordered. During the war, Ichigo was faced head to head at one point with his Hollow. The reunion was quickly ended for Ichigo now could use his Hollow Powers to the full extent. It was the key to defeating Aizen. That and Gin's betrayal at the last minute.

"_Didn't know you cared so much for my mood," _Ichigo noted.

_'Didn't I just say I just started to like the sun in here? It's warm, inviting, and it actually helps with the flooding in this place. Besides, you Zangetsu is never going to let this go down, right?' _

Ichigo flinched at the thought. Every time his family would giggle at him, his sword would harshly remind him that this was this fault.

"Crap, he's getting closer to the clinic," Ichigo muttered wondered why the silver haired captain chose today to ruin for him. It was his birthday after all. Was karma out to get him for being the hero of all humanity for some reason?

* * *

"He's coming! Everyone hide quickly!" Karin yelled and quickly hid herself behind the dinner table besides Tatsuki. Keigo ran in various circles, complaining that he didn't have a place to hide. Chad came to the rescue and shoved him inside a closet with Ishida, much to the Quincy's disdain.

"Hope I'm not late," the fox like captain smiled and hid with Ichigo's mother.

The teen boy was edging closer to the door. His face full of embarrassment. Why did he let Gin take a picture of him in that? Was he really that naive to believe it wasn't going to be used as blackmail in his later years? Might as well face the laughter now, though. He'll get used to it, eventually. And they'll forget, sooner or later.

He groaned and put a hand on the knob. The door opened with a small squeak and it seemed that the clinic was closed for the day. Slowly, Ichigo walked in wondering what was going on.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" the group of people jumped from the hiding placed and screamed causing Ichigo to be mildly startled. Considering what had happened during the last few months and adding in Isshin's surprise attacks, it was still a surprise that they received that much of a reaction.

Keigo ran and jumped up to glomp his new friend and effectively bringing him out of his startled state. Chad came by to release the brunette's grip on him. Orithime came up and began babbling on how great the birthday planning was and that she hoped she got him the perfect gift.

Ishida stayed in the background, smirking at all the attention Ichigo was receiving. He was the only one who knew his true identity due to his dad being the one who watched over his sisters for the month. Even though Ichigo didn't trust him at first, the Quincy had proven himself to be a useful ally.

Tatsuki smiled at the scene and began patting Ichigo on the back. Shinji leaned on the wall watching Ichigo smiling around his friends. He was only hear for the food, but it wouldn't hurt to connect with the newest member of his family either.

Urahara and Yoruichi stayed away talked to old and new captains of the Gotei. Isshin did the same, only he kept a watchful eye on what the captain's were being served. There was a strict rule that there can't be any alcohol in the family for recreational use. And he was going to make sure that rule was followed.

"Jirou-nii! Look! I baked a cake for you! It has chocolate and vanilla and those chocolate-covered strawberries you like so much!" Yuzu smiled as he brother blushed as she reminded him of the irony of his favorite snake and called for everyone to gather around the table. Gin stayed out of the crowd and smiled at how much fun his almost-brother was having. He slipped into the shadows, hoping not to be seen by anyone, and flipped through the scrapbook he begged Ichigo to bring.

"Hey, Gin, how did you bring Jirou all the way here anyway?" Karin asked. She could always notice when he wanted to slip away from the scene. But at least she brought food. She held out a piece of cake for him as he turned a page in his book. He gladly took it and began looking for the picture he used to taunt him into coming.

"Back when your brother was still 'bout your age, we did a lot of silly bets with each other. One of them was to see who could go the longest without taking a breath. I won that one. And so your brother had to wear this," Gin pulled out a picture of a small boy shyly looking down and trying to cover himself but failed.

Karin took the picture from Gin's hands and examined it more closely. It was definitely her brother, but she could not believe what she could see. Ichigo in a pink princess-like dress. But the hilarity didn't stop there. He was also wearing a blond wig that had tons of curls and clips in it. It was the blush, though, that brought it out the most. Pink blush covered his cheeks while blue eye shadow was heavily put on the boy.

"I had a friend of mine do the makeup and such. My lieutenant bought the dress from somewhere I don't want to know about. And I had ordered one of my officers, while I was still a captain, to buy a blond wig while he was in the world of the living. The curls were a nice touch, I must admit. And we put it all together and made Ichi-chan a 'beautiful' princess," Gin explained and laughed at how the young child used to scream and such whenever he brought out the photo. Never again did Gin won a bet. But he wasn't stupid enough to agree to a bet something like his pride away.

"Do you have any copies of them?"

"Oh, I see that I've rubbed off on you. What cha' goin' to use if for?"

"Just some blackmail in case Ichi-nii does something we don't know about," Karin answered.

"Laminated or digital?"

"Heh, I didn't think that I would get a chance to ruin another one of his kids, not with him watching me like a hawk twenty-four seven," Gin smiled. He left Karin with the scrapbook and walked over to Ichigo. He smiled, patted him on the back a few times and laughed. Ichigo raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything. They sliced the cake into pieces and everyone got a slice. Except Ichigo, who wasn't too in for sweets.

"Jirou-chan, here, I brought a slice of cake for you," Gin offered, careful not to slip up on his name.

"Nah, I'm fine," the red head said, pushin away the slice he offered.

"But, it has your face written all over it," the banished captain smiled and slammed the homemade cake into the birthday boy's head. Everyone was silent, waiting for a reaction. All except Izuru, who was wise enough to escape outside before anyone got hurt.

"Oh? Really? Than this one must be for you!" Ichigo threw a piece of cake at him and thus began to cake wars.

_Perhaps this life is going to be as bad as I thought,_ Gin smiled at the thought, but was distracted long enough to not see a piece being thrown right at him. Ichigo began laughing and dodged a slice that was thrown at him by his almost-older brother.

_Oh, and it's war now, Ichi-chan. _Gin smirked and continued the battle.

The day ended with everyone covered from head to toe in cake and having Ichigo and the fox faced man who started this all cleaning up the clinic. It seemed like life was becoming normal again in Karakura Town, or at least it's version of normal.

* * *

And thus the story ends. Thanks for everyone who reviewed. This was a fun time for me and I hope I didn't disappoint. There isn't going to be a sequel however. I'm not sure how the sequel would work. But if any of you have ideas for a sequel, feel free to write it! Just remember to tell me if you are so I can read it too! But please put credits if you do plan to use the backstory I think I established somewhere in this story.


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